Politics
ANALYSIS OF EU AND SNAP FRENCH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
INSEAD Political Science Professor Emeritus Douglas Webber had already agreed to speak to the AAA via Zoom on June 10, the day following the EU's scheduled Parliamentary elections. But when French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the Assemblée Nationale and called for new elections starting July 1, the focus shifted. What did the far right's gain of seats in the EU and the RN's trouncing of…
Christopher Weissberg, representing French citizens in North America
AAPA members had breakfast with Christopher Weissberg on May 13, 2024, to hear the Assemblée Nationale deputy's views on the outlook for EU and US elections, the increasing restrictions on immigration, and his efforts to serve his 250,000-strong constituency of French citizens residing in the US and Canada. Weissberg holds meetings throughout North America with his constituents and says their…
Emmanuel Bonne talks to AAPA
Emmanuel Macron’s foreign policy advisor Emmanuel Bonne met with over two dozen active members of the Anglo-American Press Association on April 15. Speaking on background, M. Bonne outlined France’s foreign policy priorities at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions while giving us an insight into recent multilateral initiatives involving the Middle East, Ukraine, China, Russia and……
Breakfast with H.E. JAWED ASHRAF, Ambassador of India
H.E. Jawed Ashraf, Ambassador of India to the Republic of France and Principality of Monaco, invited members of the AAPA to breakfast at his residence in Paris on April 9 for an on-the-record wide ranging discussion just ten days before India's national elections (April 19 - June 1). India has 968 million registered voters, he pointed out, and the country has installed 1.2 million polling…
US elections key to Ukraine’s future: security analyst François Heisbourg
The outcome of the war in Ukraine will likely turn not only on issues as Europe’s ability to ramp up its defense spending to produce artillery shells for Kyiv, but particularly on what happens in the November US elections, defense and security analyst Francois Heisbourg told AAPA members on March 12 via Zoom. The return of former President Donald Trump to power would be “catastrophic” for…
Ukrainian Ambassador Highlights Need for Western Support
On January 30, the AAPA met for more than an hour with Vadym Omelchenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to France and Monaco, at the embassy in Paris. During the mostly off-the-record meeting, Omelchenko briefed us on the latest on the battlefield in Ukraine, likening it to the "trench warfare" of World War I and noting that the bilateral deals Ukraine is now making with Germany, France, Britain and…
AAPA meeting with the Hungarian Ambassador in France, H. E. Georges de Habsburg-Lorraine
The ambassador commented off the record on a number of timely topics, including Hungary’s stance on the war in Ukraine; the Ukrainian refugees in Hungary; Hungary’s strong anti-immigration policies; energy issues; Sweden’s entry into NATO; and Hungary’s relationship to the European Union
General Jean-Paul Palomeros: Will Ukraine have the manpower to win the war?
Ukraine may have the will, but it may not have the men — or the munitions — to win the war, France’s former Air Force chief of staff, retired General Jean-Palomeros says. “I’m not sure that the Ukrainians have the human potential in the long term to sustain this war,” Palomeros told AAPA journalists Wednesday (March 14) at a press conference hosted by Bloomberg. It was not a prediction, added…
French health minister François Braun: many health care systems are faltering
French health minister François Braun: many health care systems are faltering Public health care systems are faltering in many parts of the world, especially since the outbreak of the Covid-19, Health and Prevention Minister François Braun told the AAPA on February 21. Meeting more than 20 members—some at the ministry and others on Zoom—he said the problems varied from country to country, but…
The rise of the far-right in France is no accident
Just 10 days before the first round of the presidential election, the AAPA met Dominique Reynié, founder of the think tank Fondapol, on April Fools’ Day. Summarizing recent political history in France, Reynié dismissed the widely vaunted idea that each improved election performance by the far-right was an “accident”. On the contrary, “something was happening.” In its disappointment with the…