Villers-Cotterêts: French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called upon the international community to avoid “double standards” in world conflicts including the Middle East and Ukraine.
While opening a summit of francophone leaders he insisted that French-speaking nations could together make a major contribution to international peace.
“I believe deeply that the francophone world is, yes, a place where we can have a diplomacy together that defends the sovereignty and territorial integrity everywhere across the planet,” said Macron.
He noted there is no room for double standards, where all lives are equal for all conflicts across the world.
Macron has previously expressed concern over Israel’s military adventure in Lebanon adding the number of civilian casualties was shocking.
The president in his speech said Lebanon, a former French colony, was today shaken in its sovereignty and peace as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies.
He went on to say there can be no peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Macron also called for a peaceful region in the Indo-Pacific.
The leaders on Friday gathered at a chateau in Villers-Cotterets northeast of Paris and Saturday in the French capital for the “Francophonie” summit.
The dozens of leaders are attending the summit including Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
French influence in Africa has been battered by coups in Mali in 2021, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023 which saw Paris-friendly governments replaced by juntas that are closer to Russia.
