“I’m bored. It’s sad and there’s a lack of creative energy. I terribly miss Mario Draghi and Angela Merkel.” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote this in a message to journalist Françoise Degois in October 2024 during a European Union summit in Brussels.
The contents of the correspondence were quoted by the French newspaper Le Figaro, which obtained access to excerpts from the messages before their publication in a book by Degois. In them, Macron describes his contacts with the current European leaders as lacking dynamism and new ideas.
“Yes, sometimes things weigh on me. No, they don’t weigh on me—I never get discouraged, you know,” Macron wrote, according to the published excerpts.The correspondence took place on Telegram
Degois spoke with the president for around two years via Telegram. The communication began in late summer 2024, after the journalist publicly defended his wife, Brigitte Macron, against circulating conspiracy theories.
The book “You Are Too Harsh with Me” compiles the messages and Degois’s political account. The author published the correspondence without the president’s prior permission. According to RTL, the Élysée Palace confirmed that it had learned about the book only on November 2, several days before its release.
According to RTL, the book’s release date is November 5, while Marianne reports November 6. Both media outlets report that the book presents personal conversations between Macron and Degois, including his assessments of French politics and his European partners.
Sources: rtl.fr, marianne.net