French President Emmanuel Macron turned heads at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, when he took the stage wearing distinctive aviator sunglasses during his appearance on Tuesday.
The French president has been battling an eye disease that he has described as “completely harmless.”
Macron wore sunglasses during his Davos speech to protect his eyes after suffering a ruptured blood vessel, the Elysee Palace said.
Macron had raised the issue several days earlier, after he was seen wearing sunglasses during an outdoor inspection of troops at a military base in Istres, southern France.
Speaking at the time, he opened his New Year’s speech to the French armed forces by directly referring to their appearance. “Please forgive the unpleasant appearance of my eye. Of course, it is completely harmless,” he said.
He went on to humorously add, “I just see an unintentional reference to ‘Eye of the Tiger’… For those who catch the reference, it’s a sign of determination,” an apparent nod to American rock band Survivor’s hit song from the 1982 film Rocky III, starring Sylvester Stallone, according to the independent.
In Davos, Macron took a firmer tone on global politics and trade. “We prefer respect to thugs,” he said, adding: “And we prefer the rule of law to brutality.”
He described the “endless accumulation” of new tariffs by the United States as “fundamentally unacceptable,” particularly when used “as leverage against territorial sovereignty.”
Macron said the European Union should not bow to “the law of the fittest,” calling it “crazy” that the bloc was forced to consider using its “anti-coercion instrument” against the United States.
The speech came after Donald Trump threatened to impose heavy tariffs on French wine and champagne and published private messages exchanged with Macron, a rare violation of diplomatic convention. Trump shared screenshots of the exchange on his Truth Social account.
In the messages, which a source close to Macron said were authentic, Macron told Trump: “I don’t understand what you are doing in Greenland” and offered to host a G7 meeting, inviting Russia and others. Neither Trump nor the French source revealed when the messages were sent.
Trump had previously promised to impose a wave of escalating tariffs from February 1 on several European allies, including France, until Washington is allowed to acquire Greenland, a move that major EU states have condemned as blackmail.
– Additional contribution from Reuters.
