France’s President Emmanuel Macron snatches symbolic victory from the jaws of political defeat in a magnificent reopening ceremony blending the political and sacred.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron staged an impressive return to the world stage using the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral as an opportunity to broker talks between Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President-elect Donald Trump against a backdrop that eclipsed other European leaders.
The ceremony came at the end of a challenging week for the French president, after the collapse of the government, which left the country rudderless.
Two days before the ceremony Macron was vowing to see out his remaining 30-month term as president despite calls for his resignation.
On Friday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the brokering of a trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries. France — and Macron personally — strongly opposed the deal, and the timing of the announcement seemed to emphasise the country’s loss of sway in the driving seat of the EU.
Even the weather seemed inauspicious, with a concert set to be staged on the esplanade outside the cathedral being pre-recorded due to the stormy wind.
But Macron played the event as a masterstroke of cultural diplomacy by inviting Trump and Zelensky to a trilateral meeting at the Elysée in the afternoon before the main ceremony.
With photos of Trump and Macron embracing and shaking hands several times on the steps of the French presidential palace, Trump was also given a full guard of honour, despite not yet being in office.
