French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday congratulated US president-elect Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris on their election victory.
“We have a lot to do to overcome today’s challenges. Let’s work together!” Macron tweeted, in French and English, after major US media networks announced Biden’s victory over incumbent Donald Trump. Macron has never met Biden, who will in January become the 46th president of the United States. France under Macron is keen for Europe to move away from its reliance on US military might, for defence in particular. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Thursday reinforced recent statements from Paris that the nature of US-EU relations had permanently changed under Trump. Europe needs to build a “new trans-atlantic relationship, which is a new partnership” irrespective of who wins, he said then.
“We cannot go back to the status quo ante, to a kind of good old days in the trans-atlantic relationship,” as Europe affirms its sovereignty in security, defence and strategic autonomy, Le Drian added. Apart from the far right, the French political class generally hailed Biden’s victory at the polls, which saw him win more votes than any other US president in history. Former French president Francois Hollande, who was in office when Trump came to power in 2016, welcomed the “good news for American democracy”. Biden has promised to return the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement after Trump pulled out of it. Hollande hailed the “happy news for the planet with the return of United States in the climate agreement”.
[AFP]
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