For more details about the biography of the French leader and his support for Ukraine, refer to the article by RBK-Ukraine. This information is reported by Kontrakty.UA.
Biographical Facts
On December 21, Emmanuel Macron turned 47 years old. He was born in the city of Amiens in northern France to a family of doctors. He attended a local secondary school but spent his final year at an elite high school in Paris.
Later, Macron earned a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Nanterre. He also obtained a master's degree in public administration and economics from the Paris Institute of Political Studies. He interned at the French embassy in Nigeria under the National School of Administration program.
Since childhood, Emmanuel Macron has played the piano. He was interested in theater and attended a school club where he met his future wife, Brigitte Trogneux, a French teacher and theater studio director. He was 15 years old, while she was 39 at the time.
Due to the age difference, Macron's parents initially tried to prevent the relationship by sending him to Paris to complete his final year of school. However, in 2007, the couple reunited and has been together ever since. They do not have children together, but Brigitte has three children and seven grandchildren from her first marriage.
"Mozart in Finance"
Emmanuel Macron's career began in public service. For four years, he served as an inspector at the General Inspectorate of Finance within the Ministry of Economy. In 2008, he transitioned to the banking sector and started working at Rothschild & Cie Banque.
At Rothschild, Macron was responsible for the acquisition of Pfizer's baby food division by Nestlé for €9 billion, which made him a millionaire. Overall, he earned $2 million between 2010 and 2012. During those years, the press referred to Macron as the "Mozart of Finance."
The Youngest President of France
In 2006, Emmanuel Macron met French politician François Hollande and served as his unofficial business advisor. When Hollande won the presidential election in 2012, Macron became Deputy Secretary-General of the Élysée Palace and an economic and financial advisor.
In 2014, Macron was appointed Minister of Economy, Industry, and Digital Affairs. He worked on a bill that was named after him – the "Macron Law." The initiative aimed at liberalizing certain sectors of the economy, including opening up the bus transport sector to competition and allowing shops to operate on Sundays.
Within a year, Macron resigned from the government and declared himself an independent politician.
In 2016, he presented his own political movement, "La République En Marche!" claiming that his party does not adhere to either left or right ideologies. In a situation where only 12% of French people (according to a 2016 survey) trusted traditional political parties, this was a winning strategy.
In the 2017 presidential election, he won against opponent Marine Le Pen in the second round with 66% support. Thus, at the age of 39, Emmanuel Macron became the youngest president of France.
In 2022, he faced Le Pen again in the presidential elections and won this time with 58.5% of the votes.
As the head of France, Macron is also one of the two co-princes of Andorra.
Reforms, "Yellow Vests," and Political Crisis
During his presidency, Macron initiated several reforms, some of which were met with mixed reactions from the public and led to mass protests.
In particular, he began a labor law reform aimed at reducing unemployment and enhancing the competitiveness of the economy. The process for resolving labor disputes was simplified, and conditions for dismissing employees were eased. Although the initiative did not find support among the population, the unemployment rate decreased.
One of Macron's main goals was to reduce the number of civil servants. This also provoked outrage among public sector workers, leading to protests and strikes.
In 2018, the French leader was forced to declare a state of economic and social emergency due to the "Yellow Vests" protests.
French citizens took to the streets against rising fuel prices and taxes. Activists demanded higher wages and pensions, as well as the return of a progressive tax on wealth. Protests periodically intensified throughout 2019 and 2020.
Despite weeks of strikes, the French president managed to pass a law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 years on his second attempt.
Macron consistently advocates for the modernization, transformation, and expansion of the country's armed forces. In 2023, he signed a law to increase military spending by 40% to a total of €413 billion over the next seven years.
After being re-elected for a second term, Macron faced challenges in forming a stable majority in parliament, and in the summer of 2024, he dissolved the National Assembly and called for early parliamentary elections.
In September, a new government was formed, but on December 5, parliament announced a vote of no confidence against him. This marked the first time in 62 years, highlighting the deep political instability in the country.
On December 13, Macron appointed François Bayrou, the leader of the liberal party "Democratic Movement," as the new Prime Minister, which is part of the pro-presidential political coalition "Together."
Macron's Position on the War in Ukraine
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Emmanuel Macron's attitude towards Ukraine has significantly changed.
Before the war, he advocated for diplomacy and strengthening the Normandy format. On February 7, 2022, he traveled to Moscow and held six-hour negotiations with the Kremlin leader.
Following the meeting, Emmanuel Macron stated that Vladimir Putin promised him "not to initiate new military maneuvers near the borders of Ukraine." The next day, the French president visited Kyiv to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky. This was the first visit by a French leader to Ukraine in 24 years.
On February 24, 2022, Emmanuel Macron firmly condemned Russia's aggression and emphasized Vladimir Putin's responsibility for starting the conflict. He expressed support for Ukraine, acknowledging the courage of the Ukrainian people and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
At the same time, during the initial months of the war, the French leader attempted to maintain dialogue with Moscow, holding several phone conversations with Putin. Macron referred to himself as a "responsible leader" who tried the longest to persuade Putin to stop the aggression against Ukraine.
In June 2022, Emmanuel Macron visited Ukraine alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to demonstrate "European unity."
As he stated during his visit to Irpin, the nations that remained neutral in the Russian-Ukrainian war made a historical mistake and became complicit in new imperialism. Macron also emphasized that "France stands with the Ukrainian men and women – without any ambiguity."
Subsequently, the French leader's position regarding the war in Ukraine became even more active. He advocated for the transfer of modern weapons and criticized other allies for delaying military assistance. At the same time, France became one of the countries that permitted Ukraine to strike Russian territory with long-range weapons.
Macron believes that lasting peace is only possible if Ukraine returns to its internationally recognized borders, including Crimea. He supports Ukraine's aspiration to join the European Union and stated that France would not oppose Ukraine's invitation to NATO.
At the beginning of 2024, his statement about the possibility of sending NATO troops to Ukraine caused a real stir. Currently, Emmanuel Macron continues to work on the issue of a peacekeeping mission and negotiates with allies.
The French leader emphasizes that in the war between Russia and Ukraine, the security of Europe is at stake, so allies must be prepared for decisive actions: "If Russia continues its escalation, if the situation worsens, we must be ready to make the necessary decisions so that Russia never wins."
For more information on the initiative to send a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine, you can read the article: Will the West send troops to Ukraine? Will a foreign contingent help end the war with the Russian Federation?.
It is worth noting that recently the French president organized the first meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in Paris after his victory in the US elections. The leaders of the three countries discussed security guarantees for Ukraine and ways to achieve "just peace."