Bloomberg: Macron Plans to Invite Asian Countries to the 2026 G7 Summit
According to sources cited by Bloomberg, French President Macron is considering inviting Asian countries to attend the G7 Summit to be held in France in 2026 and has already discussed the idea with some allies.
People who requested anonymity for internal discussions said that this move aligns with Macron's planned visit in December. Bloomberg reported that officials at the Elysée said France hopes to cooperate with major emerging countries willing to help address global imbalances.
The report said that inviting Asian powers to attend the G7 summit in Évian next year would be a bold move by Macron. His government is struggling domestically, and his role as a great politician on the international stage remains his only remaining card. With the G7 increasingly marginalized, and the United States absent from the G20 summit this month, Macron is betting on revitalizing this informal organization dominated by European countries — an organization that lacks the countries Trump wanted to engage and was willing to meet in person.
It is common for the host of the G7 meeting to invite guests to participate in parts of the meeting — Macron had once unexpectedly brought the then Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif to the meeting in 2019 — but such positions are usually reserved for countries like Australia, which share more aligned views with the G7 nations.
The report said that as geopolitical competition between major powers intensifies, European countries are striving to gain influence, trying to build leverage to defend their own interests. The G7 mechanism itself is a product of the Cold War era, long before the rise of competitors.
Although this mechanism cannot reflect the current global economic power structure in 2026, it provides Europeans with a platform to influence the situation. Macron fully utilized this platform in 2019, and with his second and final term set to end in 2027, preliminary signs indicate he may plan to take similar actions again next year.
Sources: rfi
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848630301703236/
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