French PM Barnier says he will defend key Macron policies, toughen stance on immigration

NEWS WIRES
·1-min read

France's newly-appointed Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Friday gave his first interview since being appointed to the role by President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday. In the brief televised exchange on broadcaster TF1, he said his government would be composed of members from his own conservative grouping as well as from Macron's centrist camp and said members from other parts of the political spectrum were welcome. Besides building a functional government, Barnier also faces the difficult task of trying to drive reforms and the 2025 budget through a hung parliament.

New French Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Friday pledged he would work independently from President Emmanuel Macron but signalled he would defend some of the president's key policies while toughening the government's stance on immigration.

Giving his first interview as government chief following his nomination on Thursday, Barnier said his government, which lacks a clear majority in a hung lower house of parliament, will include conservatives as well as members of Macron's camp.

Members from other groupings, including the left, were also welcome to back the new government. "There is no red line", Barnier said, adding: "We need to open the door ... to all those who want it."

"We must not call into question this law which was adopted in very difficult circumstances," Barnier said, but added he was prepared to adjust the policy to better protect what he called "the most vulnerable."


Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Read also:
France’s new PM Michel Barnier tackles challenge of forming a unifying cabinet
The long political career of France's new prime minister, Michel Barnier
New PM Barnier vows to address 'anger and grievances' of French

Latest stories

  • Revealed: The real reason why people are leaving Donald Trump’s rallies as he is still on stage

    Over the past months the former president has seemingly become more and more obsessed with attendance – amid claims that his fans are leaving early ‘out of frustration and boredom’

  • ‘America will be furious and Beijing delighted’: How Starmer handed Chagos to China

    Nigel Farage has claimed that “our American allies will be furious and Beijing delighted” after Sir Keir Starmer gave up the Chagos Islands.

  • Japan PM warns 'today's Ukraine could be tomorrow's East Asia'

    Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba warned in his first policy speech Friday that "today's Ukraine could be tomorrow's East Asia", saying that the world is becoming ever more divided."Many fear that today's Ukraine could be tomorrow's East Asia.

  • Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been silent for months - now some Israelis believe he has been killed

    In a windowless room, somewhere in the bowels of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters, Chief of Staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi jabbed his index finger forward.

  • Yazidi woman kidnapped by IS as a child 10 years ago freed from Gaza captivity

    A Yazidi woman who was kidnapped by Islamic State as a child before being sent to Hamas in Gaza has been rescued after more than a decade in captivity.

  • China could wage economic war on Taiwan to force surrender, report says

    U.S. military officials and analysts have for years warned of possible armed attacks or blockades by China on Taiwan, but a report released Friday has raised a red flag about possible non-military tactics that could be used effectively against the self-governed island. Beijing could wage an economic and cyber war to force a surrender from Taiwan without direct use of military power, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based research institute, said in the report. Such a likely but overlooked scenario, it said, poses a challenge for the U.S., the island's biggest ally, and suggested Washington make preparations for how best to respond.

  • Can Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump? Latest poll updates

    Here’s what the latest polls say about the 2024 presidential election, from The Independent’s data correspondent

  • Bangladesh's interim leader seeks Malaysia's support for repatriation of Rohingya refugees

    Bangladesh's interim leader, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, on Friday sought Malaysia's help in engaging a regional Southeast Asia bloc on raising the issue of repatriating Rohingya refugees home to Myanmar. Malaysia takes over the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, next year. The appeal came as visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with Yunus in Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital — the first visit by a foreign leader to Bangladesh since Yunus took over on Aug. 8 and the first state visit by a Malaysian leader to Bangladesh in 11 years.

  • DCM Kitingan: Sabahan MPs may oppose citizenship amendments to protect state interests

    KOTA KINABALU, Oct 4 — Government-leaning Sabahan MPs may choose not to support the controversial citizenship amendment...

  • Liz Cheney Splotches Donald Trump With Golden Line About Her Past

    The lifelong Republican's zing came during a joint rally appearance with Donald Trump's Democratic rival, Kamala Harris.

  • Taliban profit as flights diverted around Middle East crisis fill up Afghan airspace

    Flying through Afghan airspace is proving to be the safest option for international airlines, with Iran’s missile bombardment of Israel causing a noticeable shift in flight patterns

  • Ex-BBC World Service chief accused of appearing to defend Hezbollah

    The former boss of the BBC’s World Service has been accused of appearing to defend Hezbollah by minimising the terror group’s presence in Beirut.

  • EU presses ahead with Chinese EV tariffs after divided vote

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union will press ahead with hefty tariffs on China-made electric vehicles, the EU executive said on Friday, even after the bloc's largest economy Germany rejected them, exposing a rift over its biggest trade row with Beijing in a decade. The proposed duties on EVs built in China of up to 45% would cost carmakers billions of extra dollars to bring cars into the bloc and are set to be imposed from next month for five years. The Commission, which oversees the bloc's trade policy, has said they would counter what it sees as unfair Chinese subsidies after a year-long anti-subsidy investigation, but it also said on Friday it would continue talks with Beijing.

  • Ukraine downs a Russian warplane and Russia claims gains in the east

    Ukrainian forces said they shot down a Russian fighter plane on Saturday while Russia claimed it made gains in Ukraine’s east. The Russian bomber was shot down near the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk province, head of the Kostiantynivka Military Administration Serhiy Horbunov was quoted as saying by Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne. Also in the partially occupied Donetsk province, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Saturday that it had taken control of the village of Zhelanne Druhe.

  • Map shows possible Israeli targets in Iran

    CNN’s Erin Burnett talks to retired Lt. Colonel Jonathan Conricus, former IDF spokesperson, about maps he provided that he thinks show possible Israeli targets in Iran – and how Iran may be able to defend themselves at those targets.

  • Trump refuses to release medical records as concerns about him being the oldest possible president grow

    Trump is nearly 80-years-old, loves steak and Big Macs, was hospitalized with Covid-19, and has been shot, but has maintained his health is fine

  • Trump Made Crass Jokes About Death of Rally Attendee in Leaked Recording

    Donald Trump was reportedly caught on tape turning the grieving widow of a man who died at one of his rallies into a source of amusement for his super-wealthy dinner guests.The recording, obtained by The Guardian, apparently comes from a private meal Trump held Aug. 10 in Aspen, Colorado. In it, the Republican presidential nominee reportedly recalled a meeting with the wife of Corey Comperatore, the man who was killed by shots fired at Trump by Thomas Crooks at a Pennsylvania rally in July.“So t

  • Influential US Republican urges Biden to speed Israel arms sales, letter says

    The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee urged President Joe Biden on Thursday to speed up weapons shipments to Israel, including 2000-pound (907 kg) bombs that have been held up for months over human rights concerns. "I urge you to act today to ensure all weapons shipments to Israel, including 2,000-pound bombs, are expedited to support our ally," Representative Michael McCaul said in a letter sent to Biden and seen by Reuters on Thursday. McCaul, who reviews all major foreign U.S. weapons sales in his position as committee chairman, said he was also aware of more than 10 other planned weapons sales to Israel that have been awaiting final approval for more than four months and urged that they proceed quickly.

  • The Biden administration isn't extending a two-year program for migrants from 4 nations

    The Biden administration will not extend a two-year program that allows migrants from certain nations into the U.S. if they came by plane with sponsorship. The program began in 2022 with Venezuelans and was an effort to provide an alternative legal pathway for migrants who were increasingly coming to the U.S.-Mexico border while the administration simultaneously cracked down on illegal crossings. It later expanded to Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans — the nationalities of the migrants who most frequently tried to cross the border.

  • Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilots have had to dramatically change the way they fly after long flying Soviet jets, and it's a lot to overcome

    In a short time, Ukraine's F-16 pilots have had to learn to fly very differently from the way they flew their Soviet-era jets.