The political scientist explained the reasons for Macron's refusal from membership in the "Peace Council"

The reason for French President Emmanuel Macron's refusal to join the "Peace Council" on Gaza is political and image-based. Political analyst Alexander Asafov told Izvestia on January 20.

According to him, the French leader aspires to be the author or at least one of the key participants in any international initiatives, be it a "coalition of the willing" or earlier projects such as the European Defense Initiative, which has lost relevance over time.

The expert noted that personal and symbolic recognition is fundamentally important for Macron. The situation in which he is invited to discuss international issues after the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin and even Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is perceived by him painfully — if not as a direct insult, then as a demonstration of the lack of status of France among the priority European countries.

"Macron believes that this framework, which is being created by US President Donald Trump on Gas, will serve the interests of the head of the White House. Everyone else is in the position of extras here, but that's a pretty complicated conclusion. Most likely, he believes that he and France lack priority," Asafov explained.

As the political scientist noted, Macron's personal assessments from the partners are also becoming a separate factor. Among other things, we are talking about comments indicating that the French leader is in his last presidential term and will not be re-elected, which, according to some, reduces the expediency of his participation in long-term initiatives.

"Collectively, it was the lack of priority — both for him personally and for France as a whole — as well as the accompanying rather harsh rhetoric that influenced Macron's similar position," the expert concluded.

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Earlier, on January 19, Bloomberg reported that Macron intends to renounce membership in the Peace Council. It was noted that, in Macron's opinion, the actions of the "council" go beyond the settlement of the issue in Gaza and cast doubt on the implementation of the UN principles.

In turn, on January 20, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that the Russian side had received from the United States a draft charter of the "Peace Council" on the management of the Gaza Strip. According to him, at the moment, the Trump administration is aware of the need not only to unite a large number of states, but also to take into account their interests.

The Axios portal reported on January 14 that the United States had sent invitations to a number of states to join the "Peace Council" on the Gaza Strip. On January 15, the American leader announced that the formation of the "Peace Council" had been completed. He also added that, in his opinion, this is the greatest and most prestigious council that has ever been created. Later, the head of the White House threatened France with 200% duties on wine if it refused to join the Peace Council.

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