Addressing the United Nations General Assembly for the last time as France’s president, Emmanuel Macron urged the U.N. to act as a bulwark against those who would create a world ruled by the “law of the jungle.”
“The question before us, in very simple terms, is whether we want to live in this state of nature, with a kind of return to the law of the jungle, or in a civilized international society,” Mr. Macron said.
“Our duty, now more than ever, is to stand firmly alongside the United Nations to decide together precisely what is in our common interest,” he added.
Mr. Macron did not name the malefactors he believed responsible for this state of affairs. But his remarks could be interpreted as a critique of both Russia, with its invasion of Ukraine, and the United States, which, under President Trump, has threatened to invade Greenland and turn Canada into the 51st U.S. state.
Mr. Macron was also sharply critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, saying the plight of Palestinians in the strip was a “spectacle that shames us all.” Last year, France led a parade of countries at the U.N. that recognized the state of Palestine. On Tuesday, Mr. Macron said the world needed to do more to help Palestinians, both in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where he condemned settler violence.
There was an elegiac tone to Mr. Macron’s remarks, as well as a sense of unfinished business. Next May, he will step down as France’s president after 10 years in office. He used his valedictory remarks to urge the U.N. to live up to its founding ideals, particularly the principle of multilateralism.
With less than a year left in his term and with the campaign season already heating up in France, Mr. Macron appears eager for a last turn on the global stage. He met with Mr. Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on the sidelines of the General Assembly. And he is seeking a role for France in negotiating a peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia. He also called for a “double moratorium” on strikes on energy sites by both countries.
Despite his more somber tone, Mr. Macron called on the world not to surrender to the “spirit of defeat.”
“We must rediscover the vitality of our organization, this multilateralism that is the defense of a common interest, of justice for all,” he said.
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