French President Emmanuel Macron attracted attention 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 suffers from an eye condition that he described as “totally harmless.”
Macron wore sunglasses during his speech in Davos to protect his eyes after suffering a ruptured blood vessel, the Elysée said.
Macron had addressed the issue 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 address to the French armed forces by making a direct reference to his appearance. “Please forgive the unsightly appearance of my eye. It is of course something completely harmless,” he said.
He added humorously: “Just see an unintentional reference to ‘Eye of the Tiger’… For those who understand 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 tougher tone on global politics and trade. “We prefer respect to bullies,” he said, adding: “And we prefer the rule of law to brutality.”
He called the United States’ “endless accumulation” of new tariffs “fundamentally unacceptable,” especially when used “as leverage against territorial sovereignty.”
Macron said the European Union should not bow to “the law of the strongest”, calling it “crazy” that the bloc was forced to consider using its “anti-coercion instrument” against the United States.
The speech comes after Donald Trump threatened to impose high tariffs on French wine and champagne and published private messages exchanged with Macron, an unusual violation of diplomatic conventions. Trump shared screenshots of the exchange on his Truth Social account.
In the messages, which a source close to Macron called 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 earlier pledged to impose a wave of escalating tariffs starting Feb. 1 on several European allies, including France, until Washington is allowed to acquire Greenland — a move that top EU states condemned as blackmail.
— Additional contribution from Reuters.
