French President Emmanuel Macron, following a videoconference with the president of the European Commission, the Ukrainian president, and other European heads of state at the Fort de Brégançon in Bormes-les-Mimosas (France), August 17, 2025. PHILIPPE MAGONI/POOL VIA AFP
The world's upheavals wait for no one. Emmanuel Macron has made this principle his guiding line on the international stage, now beset by "predators," and a national political scene that has been in turmoil since the dissolution of June 2024. Navigating these dual realities, the French president has tried to chart his own course, seeking to embody a "powerful Europe" – one capable of meeting the century's major challenges (economic, technological, diplomatic, environmental...) without sacrificing its values or integrity.
For Macron, the war in Ukraine has become a compound of all these challenges facing Europe. "Through the Ukrainian conflict, we are in the process of redefining the rules of our collective security," the president declared Sunday, August 17, to journalists, speaking from within the walls of the Fort de Brégançon, the presidential summer residence. "If we want to be free, if we want to be independent, we must be feared; and if we want to be feared, we must be strong."
