The French president will, in line with the policy of his predecessor François Hollande, reiterate his support for the Greek government’s effort to clinch a deal with its eurozone partners to restructure the country’s massive public debt. But he will also use an open-air speech on the Pnyx — the hill where citizens of ancient Athens used to hold their meetings — to restate his vision for the future of the EU, and the need for a more integrated monetary union.
Macron’s aides were keen this week to underline the symbolic nature of the French president’s visit and speech in one of the cradles of democracy. But the same aides also implicitly acknowledged that Macron would be long on ideas and short on specifics — because most of the plans he has for Europe haven’t yet been seriously discussed with his other European partners, most notably Germany, where a general election is just weeks away. [...]
Macron’s visit and speeches, however, will not only be aimed at other European leaders and citizens. On the domestic front, he is implementing the first phase of his reform agenda with an overhaul of labor laws, and is currently the most unpopular French president of modern times at this stage of the presidency. He wants to hammer home that his focus on a new French push for European integration is not an exercise in gratuitous self-aggrandizement, but a way to bring more prosperity at home down the road.
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