PARIS — After winning another five years in the French presidential palace, Emmanuel Macron intends to go back to work straightaway on domestic and foreign policy – but he will soon face crucial parliamentary elections where he may struggle to keep his majority.
Here’s a look at what comes next for Macron and his leadership of France.
INAUGURATION CEREMONY
The Constitutional Council is to publish the presidential election’s official results on Wednesday. Macron will also host a Cabinet meeting that day.
Macron will need to then set a date and time for the inauguration ceremony. This must be done by May 13 at the Elysee Palace. He will receive the National Guards’ honors and make a speech.
21 cannons are normally fired to commemorate the inauguration. Presidents Francois Mitchell and Jacques Chirac, however, skipped this tradition to mark their reelections in 1998 and 2002. Macron is the only leader in modern France to have won a second term.
MACRON’S FIRST MOVES
Like five years ago, Macron plans to quickly head to Berlin, in line with the tradition providing that the newly elected president makes his first trip abroad to neighboring Germany to celebrate the countries’ friendship after multiple wars. He will meet with Olaf Scholz the Chancellor, where he will discuss efforts to end the war against Ukraine.
At some point, he may also travel to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a trip he said he would only do on condition that it would have “a useful impact.” Macron spoke to Zelenskyy and Scholz within hours of his victory.
Macron will deliver a speech about Europe in Strasbourg, the home of the EU parliament, on May 9.
