In a hurry to turn the page on the law on immigration, Emmanuel Macron promised on Wednesday a “new course” for 2024, confirming in passing his “rendezvous” in January to try to relaunch a second five-year term hit in quick succession by the forceps adoption of the pension reform then of the “immigration” law.
Guest of “C à Vous” on France 5 for more than two hours of live broadcast from the Elysée party hall, the Head of State defended a “compromise” which in his eyes is “a shield that we were missing” against illegal immigration and a way of countering the rise of the National Rally by responding to the problems that “nourish” it.
Emmanuel Macron defended the immigration bill, saying it is the “shield that we were missing”. He recognized that the text had been “hardened” by the Senate, but that it did not prevent France, “a country that has always welcomed [from continuing] to welcome.”
“Honestly”, the deposit requested from foreign students, “it is not a good idea”, estimated the Head of State on France 5, without excluding that this measure could be “reworked”. “I tell you this in all sincerity, because I think we need to continue to attract talent and students from all over the world,” he explained.
The day after the adoption of the text by Parliament, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne did not rule out “returning” to the proposed deposit required from foreign students, which will be returned to them when they leave France. This could only be symbolic, of the order of “10 or 20 euros”, said the head of government on France Inter.
Emmanuel Macron judges that there is “an immigration problem in France” while denying that the country is “overwhelmed”. “I think that all the good souls who explain to me that what you are doing is wrong are all the people who governed the country for 40 years and who did what? », affirmed the Head of State on France 5, reproaching his predecessors for not having resolved this question. In an interview with Le Monde, his predecessor François Hollande criticizes Emmanuel Macron for having “taken the ideas” of the National Front.
“It is not true” that the text includes “provisions which are of a National Rally nature”, affirmed Emmanuel Macron, while claiming that the law aimed “very clearly” to discourage illegal immigration. To prevent the RN from coming to power, we “must address the problems that fuel it” and “show that there is a response in the republican field consistent with our values,” he continued.
While Marine Le Pen claimed an “ideological victory” for the RN with the adoption of this text, the Head of State assures that the adoption of the bill constitutes on the contrary “a defeat” for the extreme party. RIGHT.
“I respect [his decision] and I also have a lot of respect for all the deputies of the majority who voted for a law which was not a law of which they liked all the provisions,” affirmed the head of state . “We have the right to ask questions but we also have to take responsibility,” he said.
“I can’t say it’s a complete deal breaker. Because it’s not exactly the majority’s text, but you learn to work in a relative majority,” he said.
“As the weeks go by, we cannot allow the idea to take hold that fighting effectively against terrorism would mean razing everything in Gaza or indiscriminately attacking civilian populations and causing civilian victims,” the leader said. of the State regarding the war between Israel and Hamas.
“Should I have jumped on the chief rabbi, tackled him to the ground and told him “no”? » Emmanuel Macron defended his presence earlier this month during a celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah at the Elysée. “I lit the candle of remembrance, the little red candle, which has no religious character, none,” he justified. Haïm Korsia then grabbed this Auschwitz remembrance candle to light “the first candles of a celebration which is a religious celebration,” said Emmanuel Macron, denying himself having “participated” in a “religious meeting.”
“I think this is not an infraction of the rules of secularism,” clarified the head of state, adding that “everyone needs transcendence and spirituality.”
“Sometimes I want to move quickly on things. I assumed it. There, I assume I will take the time,” said the Head of State regarding the end-of-life bill, already postponed several times, to the great dismay of supporters of a change in legislation. After the citizens’ convention on the end of life, the majority in favor of active assistance in dying, Emmanuel Macron asked his ministers for a bill “before the end of summer” 2023. It will finally be presented in February 2024.
Asked about the Olympic Games (JO) in Paris, Emmanuel Macron affirms that “there are obviously plan Bs” for holding the opening ceremony in the event of a “potential threat”. The said ceremony must be held, for the first time, outside a closed enclosure, on the banks of the Seine. “We plan for all scenarios and we will adapt to all scenarios. »
Emmanuel Macron affirmed that the Legion of Honor is an Order which is “not there to preach morality” and denounced “a manhunt” against the actor Gérard Depardieu, targeted by two complaints for rape and assault sexual. “One thing you’ll never see me in is manhunts. I hate that,” replied the Head of State, after the announcement by the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak that a “disciplinary procedure” would be initiated by the Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honor against of the actor, whose talent “makes France proud”.
