Emmanuel Macron will present his wishes to the armies on Wednesday in the Oberhoffen camp, near Haguenau (Haut-Rhin), after giving a speech in the European Parliament to launch the French presidency of the Council of the EU, announced Friday January 14 the Elysee.
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For these last wishes to the military world of the five-year term, less than three months before the presidential election, the Head of State will be present on an Army base after going to Brest in January 2021. As required by the tradition, he should take the opportunity to give an overview of the major military challenges, from budgetary issues to intervention in the Sahel, while Paris has initiated a vast restructuring of Operation Barkhane against a backdrop of strong tensions with the junta in power in Mali.
Emmanuel Macron is expected in the middle of the afternoon in Haguenau, where the 2nd Hussar Regiment and the 54th Signal Regiment are based. After the military honours, he “
will be presented with the action of the armies to better understand and anticipate crises, in a context of strong evolution in forms of conflict
”, according to the Élysée. He will deliver his speech at 7:00 p.m. in the presence of the Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly, the Deputy Ministers Geneviève Darrieussecq and Brigitte Klinkert (Insertion), and the main officers, including the Chief of Staff Thierry Burkhard. Two soldiers from the 2nd Hussar Regiment were killed in January 2021 in Mali.
Relations now appeased
Emmanuel Macron now maintains rather peaceful relations with the military world after a stormy start to his five-year term marked by the resounding departure of General Pierre de Villiers in 2017. The 2022 budget for the Armed Forces amounts to 40.9 billion euros, up for the third consecutive year (+4.3% over one year), in accordance with the trajectory set by the 2019-2025 military programming law.
Before Haguenau, the Head of State will be welcomed at 11 a.m. at the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg to present the main priorities of the French presidency of the Council of the EU, which began on January 1, before debating with the deputies Europeans gathered in plenary session in the presence of Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Commission.
He will also go to the EP on Monday at the end of the day, after a trip to the Haut-Rhin on the economy, to participate in the ceremony in tribute to the President of Parliament, David Sassoli, who died at the start of the week.