Macron is refusing to give a speech on national day

President Emmanuel Macron will not deliver a speech on the occasion of the National Day on July 14, despite having designated this day as the date for evaluating the "cooling-off period" he called for following widespread social protests.

In mid-April, the French president called for a "hundred days of calm" after his pension reform project led to widespread protests. Macron stated at that time that he would conduct an "initial assessment" on July 14 of the major projects he promised to launch to address the social protests.

However, the presidential office announced on Wednesday that Macron will not deliver a speech on July 14, indicating that he will speak "in the coming days" in a format that has not yet been determined.

The "cooling-off period" called for by Macron witnessed a week of riots, sparked by the killing of a young man near Paris by a police officer during a routine traffic stop on June 27.

According to tradition in France, the President of the Republic addresses the citizens on the occasion of the National Day each year through television, but Macron has only adhered to this tradition twice since taking office in 2017.

Macron, who is currently in Vilnius to attend a NATO summit, will visit Brussels on Monday and Tuesday to attend another summit between the European Union and the Latin American and Caribbean (CELAC) countries.

 

AFP