Oil tanker Tagor, which is under international sanctions was traveling from Russia in the Atlantic Sea on May 31, 2026. File
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France’s President Emmanuel Macron
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France’s President Emmanuel Macron addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, at U.N. headquarters.
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French President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech to announce a multi-year overhaul, long-term investments to modernize the Louvre museum, next to Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Mona Lisa, at the Louvre Museum, on January 28, 2025.
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French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday (January 28, 2025) that the Mona Lisa will get its own dedicated room inside the Louvre museum, which he said will be renovated and expanded in a major overhaul that will take years to complete.

The renovation will include a new entrance near the River Seine, to be opened by 2031, and the creation of underground rooms, Mr. Macron said in a speech from the Louvre room where the Mona Lisa is displayed.

Mr. Macron did not disclose the cost, estimated to run into hundreds of millions of euros, to modernise the most visited museum in the world, plagued with overcrowding and outdated facilities.

The Louvre’s latest overhaul dates back to the 1980s, when the iconic glass pyramid was unveiled. Now, the museum is not up to international standards anymore.

A look at what’s at stake:

Water leaks and other damage: Louvre Director Laurence des Cars sent a note expressing a series of concerns to Culture Minister Rachida Dati earlier this month saying the museum is threatened by “obsolescence.” According to the document first released by French newspaper Le Parisien, she warned about the gradual degradation of the building due to water leaks, temperature variations and other issues “endangering the preservation of artworks.” The pyramid that serves at the museum’s entrance, unveiled in 1989 as part of late President François Mitterrand’s project, now appears outdated. The place is not properly insulated from the cold and the heat and tends to amplify noise, making the space uncomfortable for both the public and the staff, des Cars stressed.

In addition, the museum suffers from a lack of food offerings and restroom facilities, she said.

A costly and complex overhaul: “We’re faced with a collective challenge,” an official at the French presidency said. “That is, how can we adapt the Louvre to expectations, welcome visitors from across the world in comfortable conditions and also be leading a commitment for artistic and cultural education?” The official could not be named in line with the French presidency’s customary practices.

The financing needed for such a major renovation has not been specified, but any renovation work at the former royal palace is expected to be costly and technically complicated.

The Pompidou Center, another major museum in Paris, is set to close to undergo a five-year renovation worth 262 million euro ($273 million), starting from the end of the year.

Half the Louvre’s budget is financed by the French state, including the wages of the 2,200 employees.

The other half is provided by private funds including ticket sales, earnings from restaurants, shops and bookings for special events, as well as patrons and other partners. That includes the United Arab Emirates’ financing for the right to use the brand for the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum.

Should Mona Lisa have its own room? Questions had arisen about how the Mona Lisa should be displayed in the museum.

Des Cars asked for the issue to be “reassessed,” suggesting a possible transfer of the museum’s most popular attraction to another room that would be specifically dedicated to it. That’s what Macron said will happen.

The Mona Lisa is now being shown behind protective glass in the museum’s largest room, overcrowded with long, noisy queues of visitors eager to take a selfie with Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece. That makes some other paintings in the room by the greatest Venetian painters like Titian and Veronese go unnoticed by many.

The museum’s latest big renovation in the 1980s was designed to receive 4 million annual visitors.

Last year, the Louvre received 8.7 million visitors, over three-quarters being foreigners mostly from the United States, China and neighbouring countries Italy, the UK, Germany and Spain.

French President Emmanuel Macron. File
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French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking a political deal that would allow him to both name a new Prime Minister and “guarantee the stability of the country,” following the resignation of ousted Prime Minister Michel Barnier, a spokesperson for the outgoing government said on Wednesday (December 11, 2024)

Maud Bregeon, the spokesperson, said President Macron insisted there was at the moment no “broader” political alliance than the current one between his centrist allies and conservatives from The Republicans party, which does not have a majority at Parliament. She was relaying comments made by President Macron during a weekly Cabinet meeting.

Last week, the French President vowed to stay in office until the end of his term, due in 2027. The move followed a historic no-confidence vote prompted by budget disputes in the National Assembly left France without a functioning government.

Mr. Barnier’s Government has been tasked with handling current affairs pending the appointment of a new Prime Minister.

Two options are still being considered by President Macron, Ms. Bregeon reported.

The first one would be to find a way to “broaden the alliance,” she said, implicitly suggesting some leftists could join the government in addition to centrists and conservatives. That could give the future government a majority in the Assembly.

The other option would be to make a deal with opposition parties on the left so that they commit not to vote any no-confidence motion — even though they would not be governing parties, Ms. Bregeon said.

“President Macron did not provided any firm deadline for naming a new Prime Minister,” she said.

Since last week, President Macron has held talks with politicians from the left and the right, including Socialist leaders who now appear as key in efforts to form a more stable overnment.

Discussions have not involved the far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen nor the hard-left France Unbowed party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon since President Macron said he would only speak with more moderate political forces.

Ms. Le Pen, who helped ousting Mr. Barnier by supporting the no-confidence motion, demanded on Wednesday (Dec. 11, 2024) her party’s proposals on preserving the purchasing power of the French to be taken into account by the future government.

The next Prime Minister knows “what needs to be done to work in decent conditions,” that is “talk to all political forces and build a budget that doesn’t cross the red lines of each party,” Ms. Le Pen said.

She concluded: “It’s perfectly doable.”

On Wednesday (Dec. 11, 2024), the outgoing government unveiled a special Bill meant to enable the state to levy taxes from Jan. 1, based on this year’s rules, and avoid a shutdown.

The Bill, expected to be approved by Parliament by the end of the year, is “temporary,” outgoing Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said. “It aims to ensure…the continuity of the nation’s life, the regular functioning of public services and the fulfillment of our financial commitments. A proper budget law for year 2025 will then need to be presented by the new government and approved at Parliament in the coming months,” Mr. Saint-Martin said.

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels, on Thursday (October 17, 2024).
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French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments that Israel owes its existence to a United Nations resolution have sparked unease in France, with the President given a furious rebuke by the upper house speaker but also facing disquiet from within his own ranks.

The remarks attributed to Mr. Macron during a cabinet meeting Tuesday (October 15, 2024) that Israel needed to adhere to UN resolutions in its campaigns in Lebanon and Gaza as they were created by the world body have angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But there has also been a strong reaction within France, home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, with Jewish groups, political heavyweights and even Macron allies speaking out against the comments.

International Affairs are one of the few remaining areas where Macron, who on Thursday (October 17, 2024) attended an EU summit in Brussels, enjoys political leeway following this summer’s legislative elections, which resulted in the centrist overseeing a distinctly right-wing government.

“It first of all shows an ignorance of the history of the birth of the State of Israel,” Gerard Larcher, the right-wing speaker of the upper house Senate, told Europe 1 radio. “Questioning the existence of Israel touches on fundamental questions for me,” he said.

“I was astounded that these remarks could be made,” he added, arguing that the creation of Israel “did not come as a notarial act merely validated by the UN”.

Mr. Larcher would take over the presidency if centrist Mr. Macron was incapacitated or suddenly resigned. He is a senior figure in the right-wing Republicans (LR) party, to which Prime Minister Michel Barnier also belongs.

‘Distortion of history’

“Mr. Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a decision of the UN,” Mr. Macron told the weekly French cabinet meeting.

The President was referring to the resolution adopted in November 1947 by the United Nations General Assembly on the plan to partition Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.

“Therefore this is not the time to disregard the decisions of the UN,” he added, as concern grows over Israeli fire on United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

His comments from the closed-door meeting at the Elysee Palace were quoted by two participants who spoke to AFP and asked not to be named.

In a blistering attack that is highly unusual from an establishment figure in France, Mr. Larcher questioned if Mr. Macron had taken account of the 1917 British Balfour Declaration, which supported the creation of a Jewish homeland, and even the Holocaust and its consequences.

Mr. Larcher added Mr. Macron had created “doubt” with his comments and while he “did not suspect him of anything, I say that Israel’s right to exist is neither debatable nor negotiable”.

Mr. Netanyahu has hit back at Mr. Macron, saying the country’s founding was achieved by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, not a UN ruling.

He also said that among those who fought for Israel in 1948 were French Jews who had been sent to death camps after being rounded up by the collaborationist Vichy regime, which governed a large part of France during the Nazi occupation in World War II.

In an interview with France’s Le Figaro daily published on Thursday (October 17, 2024), Mr. Netanyahu accused Mr. Macron of a “distressing distortion of history” and “disrespect”.

‘International rules’

Caroline Yadan, a lawmaker for Mr. Macron’s centrist party, said the comments attributed to the President were “unworthy”.

“Reducing Israel to a single UN decision is to deny the history of the Jewish people and its legitimate and historical connection to this land,” she wrote on X. “What does this statement imply? That what the UN has done, the UN can undo? Is this a warning?”

Parliamentary sources told AFP that Mr. Macron’s comments had sparked strong reactions within his own Renaissance party.

“There are some rather heated discussions,” prominent Renaissance MP Sylvain Maillard confirmed to AFP, saying about 10 deputies were in a messaging group on the issue.

A Former Minister, asking not to be named, added: “There have been monstrous arguments.”

Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon insisted on Thursday (October 17, 2024) that Mr. Macron’s remarks needed to be looked at in their full context.

“He recalled the need for everyone to respect international rules. Israel must respect them,” she told Sud Radio.

She added Mr. Macron had been “at the side of Israel and the Israeli people for a year and since the terrorist attacks of October 7” when Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

French President Emmanuel Macron during a press conference on August 29, 2024.
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French President Emmanuel Macron has defended his decision to give special fast-track citizenship to Telegram messaging app CEO Pavel Durov, who is now under preliminary charges in France over alleged criminal activity on his popular platform.

Mr. Macron on Thursday (August 29, 2024) also said he was unaware that Durov was coming to France before his surprise weekend arrest, and had no plans to meet with him.

Free-speech advocates, far-right figures and authoritarian governments around the world have spoken out in Durov’s defence and criticised French authorities over the case. Durov was freed on 5 million euro bail but barred from leaving France and ordered to report to a police station twice a week pending further investigation.

French prosecutors accuse Durov of complicity in allowing drug trafficking and sharing of sexual images of children on Telegram, and of refusing to cooperate with authorities investigating illegal activity on the app.

Durov’s lawyer David-Olivier Kaminski told French media, “It’s totally absurd to think that the person in charge of a social network could be implicated in criminal acts that don’t concern him, directly or indirectly.” The case has called attention to the challenges of policing illegal activity online — and to the Russia-born Durov’s unusual biography and multiple passports.

Speaking at a news conference while on a visit to Serbia, Macron said France supports freedom of expression and the liberty of entrepreneurs. He said that approving Durov’s request for French nationality — like high-profile sports stars, performers and others who contribute to France’s wealth and learn French — was ‘good for our country.” He also mentioned Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, who like Durov won French citizenship not through the normal difficult and bureaucratic process but via a special process for ‘merited foreigners’.

French satirical and investigative newspaper Le Canard Enchaine reported that Durov told police upon his arrest Saturday that he was planning to meet Mr.Macron.

Mr. Macron denied that. “I was absolutely not aware of Mr Durov’s arrival in France,” he said, adding, “It is false that I offered any kind of invitation to him…His arrest was an independent act of French justice.”

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, receives Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer before their meeting on August 29, 2024 at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
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U.K. premier Keir Starmer was welcomed warmly on Thursday (August 29, 2024) in Paris by French leader Emmanuel Macron, as the new centre-left British government seeks to relaunch post-Brexit ties with Europe.

Paris is the second leg of Mr. Starmer’s trip to key EU capitals, after the Prime Minister visited Berlin and announced treaty talks alongside Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Mr. Macron strode out to meet Mr. Starmer for a demonstrative hug, slapping the recently-elected leader’s back and shaking his hand.

French Presidents usually wait beside uniformed Republican Guards standing rigidly to attention at the top of the steps in the presidential palace’s courtyard when welcoming visitors.

The pair have plenty to discuss.

Like Germany, France is a key security partner for Britain — Paris and London hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council and are Western Europe’s only nuclear-armed powers.

The two countries share strong support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion since 2022.

More fraught is the issue of migrants crossing the Channel to the U.K. on boats, which the two countries’ security forces have cooperated for years to try to contain.

The issue was the first aim singled out by Mr. Starmer in a statement released ahead of the France visit, alongside stoking economic growth.

Migrant arrivals in Britain reached a record high in the first six months of the year, according to London, adding 18 percent year-on-year to reach 13,500 people.

Since the beginning of the year, 25 people have died in often dangerously-overcrowded craft, twice as many as in the whole of 2023.

Reaching a new level of cooperation with the EU as a whole may be more elusive than the treaty Starmer hopes to strike with Germany by year’s end.

He has made a classic choice of interlocutors in Mr. Scholz and Mr. Macron as the heads of the EU’s traditional Franco-German power couple.

But both are in a weakened state that may limit their influence on cross-Channel dealmaking.

Mr. Scholz heads a shaky three-party coalition set for a drubbing in three regional elections next month and unlikely to survive next year’s national ballot.

Mr. Macron is struggling to come up with a candidate for Prime Minister after a July snap election produced a hopelessly hung parliament — a stark contrast to Mr. Starmer’s unassailable majority.

Voters wait to enter a polling station at the Petit Poucet nursery school in the Vallee du Tir district of Noumea, in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, during the second round of France’s legislative elections on July 7, 2024.
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Voting has begun in France on July 7 in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock.

French President Emmanuel Macron took a huge gamble in dissolving parliament and calling for the elections after his centrists were trounced in European elections on June 9.

The snap elections in this nuclear-armed nation will influence the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability, and they’re almost certain to undercut President Emmanuel Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency.

The first round on June 30 saw the largest gains ever for the anti-immigration, nationalist National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen.

Sunday’s vote determines which party controls the National Assembly and who will be prime minister. If support is further eroded for Macron’s weak centrist majority, he will be forced to share power with parties opposed to most of his pro-business, pro-European Union policies.

Racism and antisemitism have marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian cybercampaigns, and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked — highly unusual for France. The government is deploying 30,000 police on voting day.

The heightened tensions come while France is celebrating a very special summer: Paris is about to host exceptionally ambitious Olympic Games, the national soccer team reached the semifinal of the Euro 2024 championship, and the Tour de France is racing around the country alongside the Olympic torch.

Meanwhile, 49 million voters are in the midst of the country’s most important elections in decades.

France could have its first far-right government since the Nazi occupation in World War II if the National Rally wins an absolute majority and its 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella becomes prime minister. The party came out on top in the previous week’s first-round voting, followed by a coalition of center-left, hard-left and Green parties, and Macron’s centrist alliance.

The outcome remains highly uncertain. Polls between the two rounds suggest that the National Rally may win the most seats in the 577-seat National Assembly but fall short of the 289 seats needed for a majority. That would still make history, if a party with historic links to xenophobia and downplaying the Holocaust, and long seen as a pariah, becomes France’s biggest political force.

If it wins the majority, Macron would be forced to share power in an awkward arrangement known in France as “cohabitation.”

Another possibility is that no party has a majority, resulting in a hung parliament. That could prompt Macron to pursue coalition negotiations with the center-left or name a technocratic government with no political affiliations.

Both would be unprecedented for modern France, and make it more difficult for the European Union’s No. 2 economy to make bold decisions on arming Ukraine, reforming labor laws or reducing its huge deficit. Financial markets have been jittery since Macron surprised even his closest allies in June by announcing snap elections after the National Rally won the most seats for France in European Parliament elections.

Many French voters, especially in small towns and rural areas, are frustrated with low incomes and a Paris political leadership seen as elitist and unconcerned with workers’ day-to-day struggles. National Rally has connected with those voters, often by blaming immigration for France’s problems, and has built up broad and deep support over the past decade.

Le Pen has softened many of the party’s positions — she no longer calls for quitting NATO and the EU — to make it more electable. But the party’s core far-right values remain. It wants a referendum on whether being born in France is enough to merit citizenship, to curb rights of dual citizens, and give police more freedom to use weapons.

The second-round voting began Saturday in France’s overseas territories from the South Pacific to the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and North Atlantic. The elections wrap up Sunday at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) in mainland France. Initial polling projections are expected Sunday night, with early official results expected late Sunday and early Monday.

Regardless of what happens, Macron said he won’t step down and will stay president until his term ends in 2027.