French President Emmanuel Macron Names New Foreign, Defence Mins Ahead of Polls

Macron's appointments come as part of a government re-shuffle ahead of France's parliamentary elections next month.

File photo of French President Emmanuel Macron. 

(Photo: PTI)

Freshly reelected French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, 20 May, named France's ambassador to the United Kingdom Catherine Colonna as foreign minister, reported AFP.

According to Reuters, 66-year-old Colonna will be the second woman to hold the role after Michele Alliot-Marie's short tenure in 2010. A seasoned diplomat, Colonna has held posts in Washington and Brussels. She was also once France's ambassador to Italy and has been a former secretary of state for European affairs.

Meanwhile, Overseas Territories Minister Sebastien Lecornu has been named the country's defence minister.

Earlier this week, Elisabeth Borne was appointed France's new prime minister by President Macron, becoming the country's first female PM in more than 30 years.

Borne has also served as labour minister since 2020 under Macron in his first term as president. Prior to that, she held the portfolio of transport minister, and then minister for ecological transition – both under Macron.

Parliamentary Polls in June

Macron's new appointments come as part of a government reshuffle ahead of the country's parliamentary elections next month.

The vote, which will be held over two rounds, will decide who commands a majority in the country's National Assembly, which has the final say over the country's Senate.

If Macron's party wins in the election, the new PM will have to ensure that changes to the pension scheme promised by the former are put into law, which will include raising the minimum age of retirement from 62 to 65 years.

Macron's Second Term

Macron was sworn-in for his second term as the president of France on Saturday, 7 May, at a ceremony at the Elysee Palace.

Macron won the election with 58.5 percent of the votes in the run-off round against the far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

He also defeated Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Valérie Pécresse, Éric Zemmour, and seven others in the first round of the vote.

The president gave a short speech, in which he said, "We need to invent a new method together, far from tired traditions and routines, with which we can build a new productive, social and ecological contract," as reported by Reuters.

The 44-year-old is is the first reelected president since the formation of the Fifth Republic in 1958, who does not lead coalition government.

(With inputs from AFP and Reuters.)