"Congratulations for what you do"

(B2) At the end of the small ceremony intended to celebrate the birth of the Permanent Structured Cooperation, Thursday (December 14), during the European summit, most of the Heads of State and Government of the '25' slipped away quickly. Some, however, took the time to greet "their" officer representing them (such as Angela Merkel), others desperately looking for "theirs" (apparently some Chiefs do not have a perfect representation of national uniforms), some still do not even take no time to say hello and rushing straight into the lounges of the Europa building which houses the European Council...

Finally, only one official remained on the scene, where the soldiers were still present, in full uniform: Emmanuel Macron. The French President, who was discussing with the French military representative, General Christine Chaulieu, then took great care to greet, one by one, each of them, even making a detour to greet the second group of soldiers, at the other end of the podium, saying a little word - "bravo for what you do" - inquiring about the function, the nationality, before leaving the stage...

All this under the gaze of the cameras, and to the great satisfaction of these officers who waited for a good hour (partly under the spotlights) for the family photo with the Chiefs. A great art of communication for the head of the French Armies, but also, and above all, a simple matter of respect. Apparently... no one other than the French president had thought of this form of politeness. Emmanuel Macron who is, constitutionally, the head of the French armies, would he be on the way to acquiring the informal title of head of the European armies? 🙂

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Read also: PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) on the podium (V2)