France in May 2026: the most important developments in politics
In May 2026, France's politics were marked first by court rulings and reckonings with the past. On 21 May an appeals court found Air France and Airbus guilty of involuntary manslaughter over the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, which killed 228 people, upholding an earlier conviction. On 28 May parliament voted unanimously to repeal the Code Noir, the 1685 law that regulated slavery in French colonies. President Emmanuel Macron said France must address reparations for its role in the slave trade, and a new law eased the return of colonial-era artifacts. A French judge also opened an inquiry into the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Macron's Africa policy was the second major theme. After a stop in Egypt, where he and President Sisi inaugurated the Senghor University campus, he opened the Africa-France Summit in Nairobi on 11 May with Kenyan President William Ruto, calling for a new partnership and for UN reforms. The summit came as French influence in West Africa declined, and Macron faced criticism after interrupting a panel.
Third was the Middle East and Russia. Macron urged the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and France drafted a UN Security Council resolution on it while G7 finance ministers met in Paris. France banned Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from entering the country over a video showing him taunting Gaza flotilla activists, and asked a prosecutor to investigate the treatment of French nationals aboard. Macron warned Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko over Ukraine, then spoke with him by phone and planned to send an envoy to Minsk. France summoned the Russian ambassador over threats against French diplomats in Kyiv.
Domestically, the 2027 presidential race took shape. Jean-Luc Mélenchon announced he will stand, and Marine Le Pen said she will run even if convicted. Emmanuel Moulin, Macron's choice to lead the Bank of France, received parliamentary approval, and financial investigators searched the Élysée Palace in a campaign financing probe.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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