PARIS: Emmanuel Macron officially took oath as the President of France, as he was inaugurated as a leader of the world's fifth-largest economy in an Elysee Palace ceremony. He vowed to restore the country's status in Europe and the world, and heal divisions in society. He said his priority would be “to give back to the French people the confidence that for too long has been flagging.”
“I will convince our compatriots that France's power is not in decline, but that we are at the dawn of an extraordinary renaissance because we have all the qualities which will make... the great powers of the 21st century,” he said. “The division and fractures in our society must be overcome. Nothing will make me stop defending higher interests of France and from working to reconcile the French. The world and Europe need more than ever France, and a strong France, which speaks out loudly for freedom and solidarity.”
Macron becomes the youngest post-war French leader, and the first to be born after 1958, when President Charles de Gaulle put the country's Fifth Republic in place. He was presented with his chain of office- a golden necklace on a red cushion that makes him Grand Master of the National Order of the Legion d'Honneur. He is all set to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel next week.
