From Macron switching to survival mode to the Xi/Vlad bromance to BoJo’s fireworks – this is what the continent has been talking about this week.
Le roi est nu
The French government survived Monday’s no-confidence votes in the parliament, triggered after President Emmanuel Macron pushed through a deeply unpopular pensions overhaul. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s government survived the first vote with a thinner majority than initially expected, as 278 MPs, mainly from the left and the far right, voted in favour of a cross-party motion of no confidence, falling just short of the 287 votes needed to topple the government. A second motion, backed only by the far-right Rassemblement National, also failed. And now? It is unlikely that Madame Borne-to-be-alive will resign, but Manu must rethink his strategy to avoid future starings into the abyss. Maybe an alliance with the walking-dead centre-right Les Republicains will be the option on the table, even though the almost-inexisting leadership of the conservative party could not muster its own faithful despite concessions on the bill from the ruling party. Meanwhile, Paris has been renamed Rats City.
Xi, the “peacemaker” with weapons
On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping embarked on a three-day Russian tour to visit Moscow and his bestie Vladimir Putin, confirming that Xi’s peace plan is – drum roll – Russia’s “peace” plan. In aid of the most sceptical (or blinded, according to the reader’s taste) comes customs data which revealed Chinese companies are delivering assault weapons — labelled as ‘hunting rifles’ — body armour and drone parts to Russia. It is clear now that, following last week’s Chinese blessing over the Saudi Arabia-Iran renewed partnership, Beijing wants to challenge the U.S. and play the role of peacemaker globally, although playing with weapons is an original way to conceive the part. On his side, Russian President Putin is firmly deciding to make his country the new (economic and geopolitical) Chinese colony in exchange for support to his war against Ukraine, while at the same time confirming that international law is no longer valid in Moscow, at least for him and his flunkies.
Boris in Borisland
You may have noticed that the mind behind this newsletter likes to go down the Boris hole from time to time, just like scrolling through the Instagram profile of your ex to see what’s happening in the person’s life. However, we are persuaded that Boris Johnson’s political fireworks are more interesting than your ex’s life. Stock up on microwave popcorn for next weeks because former UK Prime Minister and troublemaker BoJo voted against the Stormont brake yesterday afternoon — joining Tory revolt on the Brexit deal and giving (more) grey hair to the young PM Rishi Sunak. The European Research Group (ERG) of Eurosceptic Tory MPs has criticised the Stormont brake, with legal experts advising it was “practically useless”. However, it becomes increasingly clear that many in the party have started to think Johnson is the only thing between an honest defeat and a disaster in the 2025 general elections. Speaking of parties, yesterday Boris marked his defence at the privileges committee in the hope of wriggling free from the accusation of having misled MPs when he told them there were no lockdown parties at his home and workplace of 10 Downing Street. Brave old, new world.
