French President Emmanuel Macron said France will send three Rafale fighter jets to help protect Polish airspace after Warsaw accused Russia of launching a drone raid. This comes as the UN security council gears up for an emergency meeting on Friday.

Prime Minister Bayrou resigns Tuesday. But the true architect of the political unrest is President Emmanuel Macron, writes Cole Stangler.

France will deploy three Rafale fighter jets to help Poland protect its airspace after this week’s drone incursions into its airspace, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday on X. “The security of the European continent is our top priority. We will not give in to Russia’s increasing intimidation,” he said.

Just 194 lawmakers of the 577-seat National Assembly voted in favor of Francois Bayrou, who has since resigned as prime minister.

The president is pinning his hopes on what looks like a very unlikely centrist alliance to slash public spending, when all others have failed.

When once it was Italy on the naughty step for breaching EU fiscal rules, it is now France facing punishment from Brussels. Italy aims to leave the European Commission-overseen procedure by 2027. France only entered it in July last year.

It was a question famously asked by France’s wartime leader and former President Charles de Gaulle. “How can anyone govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?” More than 60 years on, the answer appears to be no one.

Macron courts a global role, sparring over Gaza and Greenland, even as France’s debt crisis deepens and his prime minister risks a no-confidence vote.