All right, Alexander, let's do an update on what has happened in France.

We have a new prime minister, and we're going to have a new cabinet.

And Macron is going to try to remain as president to keep the administration going for at

least at a minimum 10, 11 months, or maybe all the

way up to, what is it, 20, 27 when the next elections are scheduled.

So Macron, it looks like he's pulling it off.

It looks like he's going to pull it off and he's going to prevent another Barnier situation

from happening because he is, according, the socialist crowd that was aligned with Melanchom.

So what do you see going on in France? What's the outlook like?

Who is this Baru, Bayou, Prime Minister? It doesn't seem he's very popular amongst the left,

but what is your take of him?

Right. François Barou is somebody who has been one of these perennial figures in French politics.

There's been floating around for ages.

He goes all the way back to the 1990s and even a little bit before.

You know, if you've been following French politics, as I sporadically do, he's a name that

always comes up.

And he's a very typical French figure

of the sort you tend to find in French politics. He's different from, you know, the main part

of the French political class, the people who've been to the various grand

ecole, who graduated from the Ecole Nacional de administration, who monopolized the big

positions in Paris and all of that.

So he's different from them.

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