On the last evening of a year marked by his backfiring dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale and the loss of much of its influence, President Emmanuel Macron, no doubt hoping to turn the page, shook up the ritual of the New Year’s Eve presidential address, on Tuesday, December 31.
For the first time in more than 60 years, the traditional speech opened with a short video, with Macron narrating by voice-over. “Together, this year, we have proved that impossible is not French,” he said, as images of the “French prides” that marked 2024 unfolded, from the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Liberation to the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, and of course the Paris Olympics, “an unforgettable moment in the national life,” said Macron.
As the images were shown, Macron spoke of “a united country, from Saint-Denis to Tahiti,” “a France full of audacity, panache, madly free.” “We succeeded because we were together. United, determined and showing solidarity with one another,” he concluded.
Innovating in style, Macron, filmed in close-up in the winter garden of the presidential palace, also evoked the serious political crisis into which last summer’s snap elections have plunged the country, making a more assertive mea culpa than the one he hinted at at the beginning of December.
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