The world is experiencing a shift away from rules and international law, French President Emmanuel Macron told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday (January 20).

"It's ... a shift towards a world without rules, where international law is trampled underfoot and where the only law that seems to matter is that of the strongest," Macron said, adding that what he called "imperial ambitions" were resurfacing.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 20, 2026) (AGENCY POOL - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, WALKING THROUGH WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM (WEF) VENUE

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 20, 2026) (WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM - Access all)

2. VARIOUS OF MACRON GREETING GUESTS BEFORE SPEECH

3. MACRON GETTING UP FROM CHAIR FOR SPEECH

4. MACRON EMBRACING WEF CEO, BORGE BRENDE

5. MACRON APPROACHING LECTERN

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, SAYING:

"And it's a time of peace, stability, and predictability. So let's try to address the key challenge of this world in a few minutes' time. But it's clear that we are reaching a time of instability and unbalances."

7. MACRON SPEAKING

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, SAYING:

"Look at the situation where we are. I mean, a shift towards autocracy against democracy, more violence, more than 60 wars in 2024, an absolute record, even if I understood a few of them were fixed, and conflict has become normalized, hybrid, expanding into new domains: space, digital, information, cyber, trade, and so on. It's as well a shift towards a world without rules, where international law is trampled underfoot, and where the only law that seems to matter is that of the strongest, and imperial ambitions are resurfacing."

9. MACRON SPEAKING

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, SAYING:

"When we look at the situation, it's clearly a very concerning time because we are killing the structure where we can fix the situation and the common challenges we have. Without collective governance, cooperation gives way to relentless competition, competition from the United States of America through trade agreements that undermine our export interests, demand maximum concessions, and openly aims to weaken and subordinate Europe, combined with an endless accumulation of new tariffs that are fundamentally unacceptable, even more so when they are used as leverage against territorial sovereignty."

11. MACRON SPEAKING