What tensions lurk behind Biden-Macron toasts & backslapping?

What tensions lurk behind Biden-Macron toasts & backslapping?

Behind the toasts and pageantry accompanying President Joe Biden’s state visit to France on the anniversary of the D-Day landing of Allied troops 80 years ago, there is an undercurrent of tension between him and French leader Emmanuel Macron.

France’s strive for less US-dependent policy

Frictions have been mostly driven by Macron’s thirst for a more assertive role, independent of the US, The New York Times reported. On the quiet, US officials roll their eyes “in exasperation” with regard to their French counterparts, while the French side is “frustrated” at the Biden administration’s “overbearing approach to trans-Atlantic leadership.” Europe must show that "it’s never going to be a vassal for the United States" has been Macron’s mantra of late. He has urged for the continent to stop “delegating our defense to the US.”

Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza

France and the US reportedly do not see eye to eye on the degree o...
Source: Sputnik International
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