Macron Pledges to Defend Europe as France Braces for Iran Energy Crisis
The French President reaffirms European mutual defence commitments in Athens, warns against panic over Strait of Hormuz disruption, and Glucksmann eyes a 2027 run on his own terms.
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This week
📢Glucksmann goes solo for 2027
🇬🇷Macron: France will stand by Greece if threatened
🇮🇷Macron reassures public on energy shortages
📢Glucksmann goes solo for 2027
So, to start the week off, we have yet another candidacy announcement for the 2027 Presidential elections, this time coming from centre-left MEP Raphaël Glucksmann (Place Publique).
Speaking on Thursday 23 April, Glucksmann made it clear that he would refuse to participate in a left-wing primary, in order to avoid a situation where “the left will speak to the left, as usual” and instead, “build a political offer” that would win over more people.
“We agree on the substance; we want to develop a political platform. Our aim is not to be the leading party or the focal point of the left, that doesn’t interest us, but to win in 2027 and therefore to appeal to the French people.”
A part of his anxiety around this situation is that, in his view, the left operates in a bubble, while their toughest opposition will go around them and speak to the people who actually vote.
“The left will talk to the left, as usual” MEP Glucksmann said of any potential primary. “At the same time, you will have Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Jordan Bardella, who will campaign by talking to the French.”
However, while he joined hands with actors from the Ecologists and the Parti Socialiste to call for a “credible and mobilising project” ahead of the next elections, and has been actively calling for a common platform with substance that answers the ongoing challenges facing the French, Glucksmann has only one red line:
“There is no possibility of an alliance or a primary election with La France Insoumise because our political positions differ.”
And while Glucksmann has said that it’s “not the moment” to declare his candidacy, there’s a not insignificant number of watchers who have seen some major similarities in how Emmanuel Macron initially launched his political movements back in 2016.
🇬🇷Macron: France will stand by Greece if threatened
Moving on to the international scene: Emmanuel Macron was visiting Greece this week, where he reiterated French support for its fellow European Union member state and reinforced the EU’s mutual defence clause.
Firstly, speaking at an event titled ‘Challenges for Europe: The Way Ahead’, hosted by the newspaper Ekathimerini, the French President underlined that France had and would continue to come to Greece’s defence whenever necessary.
“If [Greek] sovereignty is threatened, know that we will be here”
- Emmanuel Macron speaking in Greece on 25 April 2026
In saying this, he highlighted recent instances when France had come to the aid of European states, such as the Greek-Turkish standoff in 2020 and the defence of Cyprus earlier this year.
And during this conversation, both leaders underlined the need to further develop European coordination in defence and to push for Strategic Autonomy. Macron, as is his style, pushed for Europeans to “produce European and buy European” while reducing regulations that undermine the EU’s ability to do so.
This aligned with the broader message of his visit: that Europe needs to strengthen its ability to defend itself, and that we need to remember that our Mutual Assistance Clause is “not just words” but a concrete mechanism.
“On article 42, paragraph 7, it’s not just words, we know that for us, it is clear and there is no room for interpretation or ambiguity,” Macron said, going on to describe the MAC as “stronger” than NATO article 5 as he believes that “[Donald Trump’s] US approach will last.”
And this was, in part, why the informal council meeting took place in Cyprus on 23-24 April, which we’ll discuss this coming week over on Dépêche.
🇮🇷Macron reassures public on energy shortages
To close off the week, Emmanuel Macron attempted to reassure citizens on Saturday, 25 April, by saying that no shortages were expected as a result of the ongoing American-led war on Iran.
This statement was made following a comment on Friday by the head of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, at the World Policy Conference hosted by IFRI, where he claimed that if the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz lasted for “two or three more months,” France would enter “an era of energy shortage.”
Naturally, this made the Elysée and Matignon less than happy with Emmanuel Macron being questioned on this statement in Athens. The French President responded that France is “not facing the worst-case scenario you described, which is not the most likely outcome at present and which I am not in a position to comment on.”
With the French government doing what it could to not only resolve the crisis in the Strait from its side but also to avoid any panic that could lead to a run on the gas pumps, the rapid response was to be expected.
Macron even went as far as to call on people to avoid creating political fiction due to this potential panic response:
“I would be wary of engaging in political speculation, because … I know how psychology can work. We’re not here to spell out the worst-case scenarios, the worst thing, at times like these, when there are tensions and geopolitical uncertainty, is for those tensions to be exacerbated by panic-driven behaviour … and very often, shortages are created by this panic behaviour itself.”
He went on to underline that “at this stage the situation is under control … [and] does not make us envisage any shortage” while reiterating calls for “a complete reopening, in accordance with international law, to freedom of navigation, without tolls [of] the Strait of Hormuz.”
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