PARIS: Two French nationals held in Iran are on their way back home, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday, following their release in November after more than three years in prison on espionage charges. &quot;Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris are free and on their way to France, after three and a half years in detention in Iran,&quot; the French president wrote on X. A source at the French foreign ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the couple left Iran Tuesday at dawn in a diplomatic convoy with the French ambassador and &quot;are currently in Azerbaijan&quot;. Kohler, 41, and Paris, 72, were arrested in May 2022 at the end of a trip to Iran that their families say was purely touristic in nature. They were freed from Tehran&#39;s Evin prison in November after more than three years in jail on espionage charges their families say were fabricated, but the pair had been waiting to leave the country. Their fate had seemed even more uncertain after US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February that killed the country&rsquo;s Supreme Leader. Both teachers &ndash; although Paris is retired &ndash; they were among a number of Europeans caught up in what activists and some Western governments including France describe as a deliberate strategy of hostage-taking by Iran to extract concessions from the West. They left after US President Donald Trump on Monday warned that all of Iran could be &quot;taken out&quot; late Tuesday at the expiry of a deadline he issued for the Middle Eastern nation to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.

A pedestrian walks past portrait placards of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French citizens formerly detained in Iran, set up on a fence of the French National Assembly, in Paris on March 11, 2026. (AFP)

Middle East

Europe

Two French nationals, Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, freed from Iranian prison on espionage charges, are returning home via Azerbaijan, President Macron said, following more than three years in detention.

French pair held in Iran 'free and on their way to France': Macron

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday a <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-takes-davos-stage-as-greenland-dispute-looms-over-transatlantic-ties" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">standoff with the United States </a>over Greenland was &quot;a strategic wake-up call for all of Europe&quot;, speaking alongside the leaders of Denmark and the Danish autonomous territory.&nbsp;European powers have <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/greenland-denmark-set-aside-troubled-history-to-face-down-trump" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">sought to join forces </a>to show they can stand on their own feet after US President Donald Trump has roiled the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize Greenland.&nbsp;Speaking alongside the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Macron said the &quot;awakening&quot; must focus &quot;on asserting our European sovereignty, on our contribution to Arctic security, on the fight against foreign interference and disinformation, and on the fight against global warming.&quot;&nbsp;He reaffirmed to Frederiksen and Nielsen France&#39;s solidarity and &quot;its commitment to your sovereignty and territorial integrity.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;France will continue to defend these principles in accordance with the United Nations Charter,&quot; he added, expressing his support for increased NATO engagement in the Arctic.&nbsp;Macron said some words in the Indigenous Greenlandic language, and then switching to the Danish language told the premier France would &quot;be side-by-side&quot; with the &quot;Kingdom of Denmark&quot;.&nbsp;After European pushback, Trump backed down on the threat to take Greenland by military force.&nbsp;Speaking in Paris earlier Wednesday, Frederiksen said that Europe needed to improve its defences &quot;now&quot; to become less reliant on the United States for military protection.&nbsp;On Monday, NATO chief Mark Rutte told EU lawmakers to &quot;keep on dreaming&quot; if they thought Europe could defend itself without the US.&nbsp;In response to Rutte&#39;s comments, Frederiksen conceded it would be &quot;extremely difficult&quot; for Europe to defend itself right now.&nbsp;&quot;Because when you look at intelligence, nuclear weapons, and so on, we depend on the US,&quot; she said at Sciences Po university.&nbsp;&quot;But I think we&#39;re able to do more than what is being said publicly right now.&quot;&nbsp;As for a 2035 target to ramp up spending on NATO, she said: &quot;I&#39;m sorry to say it would be too late.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;I think rearming ourselves now is the most important thing.&quot;&nbsp;NATO members committed to raising defence and security spending last year to five percent of their economic output, following on from an earlier target of two percent by 2024, after pressure from the US government.&nbsp;Fredriksen said Europe had made a &quot;big mistake&quot; by cutting military budgets in the past.

Americas

 French President Emmanuel Macron says the situation with the United States over Greenland is "a strategic wake-up call for all of Europe", speaking alongside the leaders of Denmark and the Danish autonomous territory.

Greenland dispute 'strategic wake-up call for all of Europe,' says Macron

MEXICO CITY: French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that any effort to combat drug trafficking must respect the sovereignty of the nations involved, as the United States ramps up its anti-narcotics campaign in the Caribbean and the Pacific.&nbsp;&quot;The fight against drug traffickers is one that unites us all,&quot; Macron said during a joint press conference with his Mexican counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum.&nbsp;&quot;It is governed by the cooperation between sovereign nations and the respect for the sovereignty of each one.&quot; This is a developing story...

Says the fight against drug traffickers is one that unites us all.

Macron says drug trafficking fight must respect 'sovereignty'

Reuters

PARIS: France&#39;s parliament brought down the government on Monday over its plans to tame the ballooning national <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/french-government-under-pressure-over-wealth-tax-proposal" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">debt</a>, deepening a political crisis that is weakening the euro zone&#39;s second-largest economy. Lawmakers voted to oust Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and his minority government with 364 votes against the veteran centrist politician and 194 in his favour. President Emmanuel Macron, who is facing calls from the opposition to dissolve parliament and resign, will instead hunt for his fifth prime minister in less than two years. His office said he would appoint one in the next few days. Challenges aheadThe next government&#39;s most pressing task will be to pass a budget, the same challenge Francois Bayrou faced when he took office nine months ago. Securing the backing of a very divided parliament will be equally hard. &quot;You have the power to bring down the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality,&quot; Bayrou told lawmakers before losing the confidence vote. &quot;Reality will remain relentless: expenses will continue to rise, and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will grow heavier and more costly,&quot; he said. No support for deficit-lowering strategyBayrou will tender his resignation on Tuesday, his office said. He had called the confidence vote to try to win parliamentary support for his strategy to lower a deficit that stands at nearly double the European Union&#39;s 3% ceiling, and to start tackling a debt pile equivalent to 114% of GDP. But opposition parties were in little mood to rally behind his planned savings of 44 billion euros ($51.51 billion) in next year&#39;s budget, with an election for Macron&#39;s successor looming in 2027. &quot;This moment marks the end of the agony of a phantom government,&quot; far-right leader Marine Le Pen said, pushing for a snap parliamentary election, which Macron has so far ruled out. &quot;Macron is now on the front line facing the people. He too must go,&quot; Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed, said on X. Who&#39;s next?A lengthy period of political and fiscal uncertainty risks undermining Macron&#39;s influence in Europe at a time when the United States is talking tough on trade and <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/macron-to-announce-france-restoring-voluntary-military-service" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">security</a>, and war is raging in Ukraine on Europe&#39;s eastern flank. &nbsp; The French president could now nominate a politician from his own centrist minority ruling group or from the ranks of conservatives as the next premier, but that would mean doubling down on a strategy that has failed to yield a stable alliance. He also could tack to the left and nominate a moderate socialist, or choose a technocrat. No scenario would be likely to hand the next government a parliamentary majority. It was inevitable that the need to form a new government would result in a dilution of the deficit reduction plan, Finance Minister Eric Lombard said before the vote. Macron may eventually decide the only path out of the crisis lies in calling a snap election, but he has so far resisted calls from Le Pen&#39;s National Rally and from France Unbowed to dissolve parliament a second time.&nbsp; Fiscal messFinancial markets had anticipated the confidence vote would fail and there was little immediate reaction on Monday. French markets face another test on Friday, when Fitch Ratings reviews its sovereign rating for France. Moody&#39;s and S&amp;P Global follow with their own rating reviews in October and November. &quot;Over the near-term, I&#39;m sure everyone in markets expects paralysis and downward pressure on ratings,&quot; said Chris Scicluna, head of economic research for Daiwa Capital Markets. As for now, &quot;the outcome was as expected, so markets should react in a modest way.&quot; France&#39;s EU peers will be watching closely.&nbsp; High debt servicingFrance holds the highest deficit as a percentage of GDP in the euro zone - the bloc using the EU&#39;s single currency. It pays more to service its debt than Spain and spreads against benchmark German 10-year bonds are at their highest level in four months.&nbsp; A rating downgrade would hamper France&#39;s ability to raise money at low interest rates from investors, potentially deepening its debt problems.&nbsp; The Socialists have offered a counter-budget that would impose a tax of at least 2% on personal wealth greater than 100 million euros ($117.5 million) and generate savings of 22 billion euros - a proposal that would be tough to marry with the pro-business reform agenda of Macron&#39;s presidency. Future disruptions expectedDiscontent may also start brewing on the streets. A grassroots protest movement called &quot;Bloquons Tout&quot; (&quot;Let&#39;s Block Everything&quot;) is calling for nationwide disruption on Wednesday. Trade unions are plotting walkouts the week after. Like many in France, <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/thousands-march-in-france-to-demand-action-on-violence-against-women" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mohamed</a>, 80, who sells produce at the Aligre market in Paris, doesn&#39;t think the politicians will find a way out.&nbsp; &quot;Come back in 10 days and you&#39;ll see nothing will have changed. There won&#39;t be a majority, there will be no budget.&quot;

France’s parliament voted to oust Prime Minister François Bayrou and his government over debt-reduction plans, deepening a political crisis for President Macron. 

Articles tagged with "French President Emmanuel Macron"

French pair held in Iran 'free and on their way to France': Macron

Greenland dispute 'strategic wake-up call for all of Europe,' says Macron

Macron says drug trafficking fight must respect 'sovereignty'

French parliament ousts prime minister, deepening political crisis