The pandemic has grounded most European leaders. But not Emmanuel Macron. In recent weeks, the French president has been in hyperactive diplomatic mode. He has jetted off twice to Lebanon, once dropping in on Iraq on the way back. He has dispatched a frigate and two fighter jets to help Greece and Cyprus defend their waters from Turkish incursions, and held a sea-front summit of Mediterranean leaders in Corsica to try to rally others to make a tougher stand against Turkey. On September 28th-30th the French president is off again, this time to Latvia and Lithuania, where he will visit French soldiers serving in a nato battlegroup.
What is Mr Macron up to? Three years ago this month, in the amphitheatre of the Sorbonne, he outlined an ambitious plan to reinvigorate the European Union. This stood on two principles: more “solidarity” among member countries, and more assertion of European “sovereignty” in the face of big-power rivalry. In July, when all 27 eu members agreed to issue mutualised debt for a massive recovery fund, Mr Macron made progress on his first point. On the second, however, France is still trying to work out how to reconcile its version of the collective European interest, notably in response to regional troublemakers in Turkey, Russia, Libya and elsewhere, with how others see it.
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