French President Macron warns of 'crisis of democracies' after years of 'pressure'

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned about a "crisis of democracies", including in the United States after years of "pressure and destabilisation efforts". In response to a question regarding American democracy, Macron responded, "I worry about all of us." Speaking to CNN, Emmanuel Macron stressed that he hates "lecturing people" adding that he believes "that what is at stake is what we built in the 18th century." 

Macron warned of a "big crisis of democracies" and termed them "liberal democracies." He stressed that being "open and very cooperative democracies" would place pressure on people and could "destabilise them." Speaking to CNN, Emmanuel Macron said, "I think we have [a] big crisis of democracies, of what I would call liberal democracies. Let's be clear about that. Why? First, because being open societies and being open and very cooperative democracies put pressure on your people. It could destabilise them." Calling it a "matter of balance," Macron stressed that they need to respect people's willingness, middle-class references and progress made by democracies by welcoming different cultures while being open and cooperative. 

According to the French President, social media is playing a "very important role" for what he emphasised is "at stake" in their democracy for the "best and the worst." He underscored that "fake news" and "new relativism" have been driven by social platforms and called it a "killer for all democracies", adding that it is "completely breaking the relationship to truth, science and the basis of our own democracy," as per the news report. Expressing his views about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Macron said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the leader who went to war and "decided to escalate."

'No one other than Russia sought conflict': Biden

Echoing similar remarks regarding Russian President Putin, US President Joe Biden in his UNGA address on September 21 said, "This world should see these outrageous acts for what they are. Putin claims he had to act because Russia was threatened. But no one threatened Russia, and no one other than Russia sought conflict." He said that there's a contest between "democracy and autocracy." In his address at the United Nations General Assembly, Biden said, "It’s no secret that in the contest between democracy and autocracy, the United States and I, as President champion a vision for our world that is grounded in the values of democracy." He asserted that the US is determined to defend and strengthen democracy at home and around the world. Biden further added, "I believe democracy remains humanity’s greatest instrument to address the challenges of our time."

Image: AP