France’s President Emmanuel Macron drew on the shared history and “special bond” with the US as he opened a joint meeting of Congress.
Mr Macron told Congress, “the American and French people have had a rendez-vous with freedom”.
In recounting common bonds from the earliest days of the United States, he was telling of a meeting between Ben Franklin and the French philosopher Voltaire, “kissing each other’s cheeks”.
As President Theodore Roosevelt said, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We must fight for it and protect it.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 25, 2018
Mr Macron spoke on Wednesday as part of his visit to the United States.
It is the first time a president from France has addressed Congress in more than a decade, but follows a tradition of foreign leaders appearing at the US Capitol.
