Macron calls for restoring the UN to its rightful place in the face of "the law of the jungle"

French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly against the "return of the law of the jungle" in the world and called for standing "straight alongside the United Nations" to preserve a "civilized international society".

"Each one describes the return of imperialism, of arrogance, the return to force without rules or restraint, a world at the bottom of the concentration of power," he pointed out during his last speech at the United Nations General Assembly, as he will leave the Elysée next May after ten years in power.

Targeting the United States, Russia, and China, he denounced "those who think that one can undermine the international order to expand one's borders," "trample on the sovereignty of peoples to dispose of it oneself," and "decide the future of the planet, whether it concerns climate or artificial intelligence."

"The question posed to us in a very simple way is whether we want to live in this state of nature, with a form of return to the law of the jungle, or in a civilized international society," Emmanuel Macron insisted.

"Our duty, now more than ever, is to stand firmly alongside the United Nations to decide together precisely on the common interest," he added. "Where the law of the strongest tries to prevail, we must defend justice, the common interest."

In the Ukrainian conflict, the French president has argued for a "double moratorium" on strikes against energy sites in Russia and Ukraine.

He also called for "a moratorium on the Black Sea which will allow the release of cereals and provide an answer to the crucial issue of food security for so many emerging and developing countries".

- "Never give in"

The French president, who had initiated a movement to recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in 2025, deplored a year later "a spectacle that shames us all" in Gaza.

"What credibility do we have if we continue to remain inactive in the face of Gaza?", he asked, stressing that building a two-state solution was the condition for "the security of today and tomorrow for Israel and its people".

On AI, he urged all states "committed to their independence" to develop an alternative artificial intelligence (AI) so as not to depend on either the United States or China.

"This coalition of independents (...) who do not want to become vassals of either of the two major world powers must come together to develop a frontier +open source+ model (cutting-edge AI accessible to all) by pooling the computing power at their disposal, by pooling their investment capacity (to create an AI) that we would share," he said.

The French president ultimately called for "not giving in" to "the spirit of defeat" and "the abuse of power" and for restoring the United Nations' "vitality" to halt a "slow division of the world".