Reactions to Macron’s Election Victory
Romania hails the election of Emmanuel Macron as President of France
Roxana Vasile, 08.05.2017, 13:30
At the end of March, Emmanuel Macron, then a candidate in the French presidential election, took part in a debate on EU topics held at the Romanian Embassy in Paris. A reliable EU supporter, the 39-year old who won this Sunday the presidential election in France had at that time the opportunity to present once again his stand on the Union and on ways to give fresh impetus to the European project, which has suffered a heavy blow with Brexit. He left the Romanian Embassy in France with a copy of a book that last year won the “Jean Monnet” European Literature Prize, “The Novel Beginnings Trader” by the Romanian-born writer Matei Visniec.
By electing Macron to the country’s highest office, the French hope, in fact, that he will be the author of new beginnings. Macron’s 66% win revealed both the voters’ criticism of the two traditional leading parties in France, the Socialist Party and the Republicans, and, on the other hand, their opposition to the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, a firm anti-European.
Bucharest sees Emmanuel Macron’s win as an extraordinary message for Europe, namely that a nationalist, isolationist project that would have taken France out of Europe and severed its ties to the European and Euro-Atlantic values was unacceptable for the French society.
On Sunday night, after the results were announced, the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis congratulated the new president-elect on Twitter, and said his election was a major victory for France and for Europe. On Monday morning, Klaus Iohannis made public a longer message, saying that Francophile Romania intends to work with France to deepen their bilateral relations, as they are defined under their Strategic Partnership, and to re-launch the European project. France, the President of Romania added, is a key partner of Romania, and the relations between the two countries, built on strong linguistic and cultural affinities have seen an unprecedented development over the past few years. With this in mind, Iohannis voiced his confidence that the 2018-2019 Cultural Season, which will include artistic, cultural, scientific and educational events, will be another excellent opportunity to showcase the richness and diversity of the relations between the two countries.
PM Sorin Grindeanu and the Romanian Foreign Ministry also congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his election. The next test for France is now the parliamentary election due in June. In other words, the make-up of France’s next parliament and government are very important, and a good political relation between them and Emmanuel Macron is critical for the new president to be able to see his projects through. (Translated by AM Popescu)
