French President Emmanuel Macron was caught up in protests against his pension reform during a state visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday as he addressed students on the future of Europe.

“Where is French democracy?” Yelled young protesters from the stage of the theater where he began his speech in The Hague, unrolling a banner on which was written in English “President of violence and hypocrisy”.

“You have millions of demonstrators in the streets”, they launched, while the French government has been confronted since the beginning of the year with a strong challenge to its reform aiming to postpone from 62 to 64 years the age of retirement.

“This is a democracy and a democracy is exactly a place where you can demonstrate,” replied the head of state when he was able to speak again after a minute’s interruption.

But “the day you say to yourself when I disagree with the law that was passed or the people who were elected, I can do what I want because I decide for myself the legitimacy of what I do, you are putting democracy at risk,” he said.

His decision to use the “49.3” procedure, i.e. adoption of the text without a vote by engaging the responsibility of his government, ignited the protest in France, with demonstrations interspersed with violence.

The president was also expected at the exit by about thirty young French people who chanted: “Macron, we are here for the honor of the workers and for a better world!”

“Reform is not easy,” noted King Willem-Alexander during a state dinner in honor of his host.

“For us, for Europe and for the whole world, it is essential that France be strong, prosperous and confident”, he insisted, welcoming the “vision and energy” of the French president for the future of the EU.

During his thirty-minute speech, the head of state, who had just returned from Beijing, pleaded for greater economic autonomy for Europe but did not return to his controversial remarks on China and Taiwan. .

His appeal to Europeans, during interviews in China, not to be “followers” on Taiwan with regard to Beijing or Washington as well as to “depend less on the Americans” in matters of defense has sparked an outcry.

Remarks interpreted as a distancing from Taiwan while the United States are themselves very engaged in Ukraine and which provoked strong reactions from leading American parliamentarians.

Eastern Europeans, long under the yoke of Moscow, also remain very attached to NATO and to American protection, especially since the war in Ukraine, and look with suspicion at the European defense advocated by France.

In a form of clarification, the French presidency stressed that Mr. Macron had never called on Europe to stand “equidistant” from the United States and China. “The United States is our allies, we share common values,” she insisted.

Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte were welcomed with military honors in the morning at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam by King Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima, for this first state visit by a French president to the Netherlands since 2000.

In the evening, royal pomp was deployed for the State dinner, with waiters in livery, porcelain with naturalistic motifs and imposing floral arrangements.

On the menu: pearls of imperial caviar, velouté of asparagus with prawns, tournedos and coffee dessert, accompanied by French grands crus, Chassagne-Montrachet and Margaux.

During the exchange of toasts, President Macron for his part hailed the “combined power of work and freedom” in the Netherlands, “the moral signature of your people”.

The director of the Tour de France Christian Prudhomme was among the guests of honor, the two countries sharing the same passion for cycling and the Great Loop.

This state visit confirms the rapprochement between the two countries since Brexit in 2016. On Wednesday, the two governments will sign a “pact for innovation” in semiconductors and quantum physics.

Brigitte Macron and the Queen will visit the Anne Frank House for their part.

The presidential couple, accompanied by the king and queen, will also visit the Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in the evening before returning to Paris.

04/11/2023 23:56:36 – The Hague (AFP) – © 2023 AFP