During his visit to Latvia, French President Emanuel Macrons could look for allies to strengthen his country’s role as a leader in the European Union (EU), said Jānis Kapustāns, a foreign expert, lecturer at Vidzeme University College and a doctoral student at Riga Stradins University.
Two years ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that she would not run in the Bundestag elections and promised to remain German Chancellor until 2021, but then leave politics forever.
The foreign expert emphasized that the end of the Merkel era was approaching, noting that the current German Chancellor was the most influential EU politician and leading leader. Captain said Macron had ambitions to make France the most influential bloc country it had before the Merkel era.
“One of the possibilities is that France could try to take the lead in the EU. Secondly, Macron is interested in gaining the support of Eastern Europeans on various EU issues, so such visits and meetings are taking place,” said Capustan. The foreign expert pointed out that French soldiers were deployed in Lithuania as part of the international NATO unit, which Macrons would visit before his visit to Latvia.
Captain stressed that France currently has a number of topical issues, one of which is the migration caused by the conflict in Syria. The lecturer of Vidzeme University College also mentioned that Makron has the opinion that we should talk more with Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. Here, as the foreign expert emphasized, certain differences with Latvia’s position appear.
“Such an approach does not mean that Makron sympathizes with what Russia is doing. I think Makron wants to listen to Latvia and possibly persuade Latvia not to block any possible French initiatives on various issues,” said Kapustāns.
LETA has already announced that the President of France will pay an official visit to Latvia on September 29 and 30. As LETA previously informed at the Chancellery, this will be the first bilateral visit of the President of France to Latvia since President Jacques Chirac’s official visit in 2001.
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