What are the highlights and keypoints from President Macron's UNGA 2026 Speech?

French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a forceful final address at the 81st UN General Assembly, framing the world's central question as a choice between civilized international order and a return to the "law of the jungle," while hammering on Gaza, Ukraine, AI governance, and UN reform.

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Here are the highlights and excerpts from Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, speaking at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly, New York, September 22, 2026.

Highlights

Civilization or the jungle, pick one. Macron told the Assembly that the world faces a stark choice: "Do we want to live…with a return to the law of the jungle — or do we want to live in a civilized international society?" He declared France committed to both the UN itself and a revival of multilateralism to "tackle common challenges together."

Stand firm against empires. His message was "stand firm," urging his audience not to yield to "the rhetoric of defeat that threatens the sovereignty of some countries and leads to the abuse of power by empires." He declared, "we will not yield to defeatism."

Gaza: a spectacle that shames us all. Macron at one point hammered the rostrum as he spoke about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He accused Israel of violating Palestinian rights in the West Bank and undermining the sovereignty of neighboring Lebanon, and questioned the credibility of the international community's recognition of Palestinian statehood if it failed to act on the situation in Gaza. He announced that Saudi Arabia and France had convinced 142 members of the Assembly to sign the New York Declaration on a path toward peace. That declaration calls for an immediate ceasefire, release of all hostages, and a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state that is demilitarized and recognizes Israel, and an Israeli state that recognizes a state of Palestine.

Ukraine: a moratorium on energy strikes. Macron called for a moratorium on strikes against civilian and energy targets in the Ukraine-Russia war. He said France would continue supporting Kyiv and referred to the Coalition of the Willing established with Britain and Germany.

War crimes are being industrialized. Macron said war crimes and attacks on civilian infrastructure were being "industrialised" in conflicts stretching from Ukraine and Gaza to Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He argued that international law does not merely describe reality but outlines the limits of acceptable behavior, and that the forgotten lessons of the 20th century can be seen in the current wave of "industrialised" war crimes and a new era of barbarism.

UN Security Council reform: limit the veto. He warned against an emerging international order of impunity and called for a stronger UN Security Council, highlighting the Franco-Mexican initiative calling for permanent members to voluntarily restrict their use of the veto in cases involving mass atrocities. He said 128 UN member states now support the initiative and called for more countries, particularly permanent Security Council members, to back it.

AI governance cannot be left to two countries and a handful of companies. Macron focused on the dangers of AI, stressing that the vast majority of people and countries appear to have no voice in the debate over AI regulation, and that it should not be left only to the US and China and a handful of private actors, calling the stakes too high over a technology which could threaten "the security of our States, of our hospitals, of our banks."

Bridging North and South. A significant portion of his speech advocated for reducing divides between the Global North and South, which he said was crucial to address climate change, health, and development, acknowledging this would require reopening a dialogue about common history, cultural relationships, and restorative justice.

In his own words

On the central choice facing the world: "The question put to us, in very simple terms, is whether we want to live in this state of nature, with a kind of return to the law of the jungle, or in a civilised international society."

On defeatism: "We will not yield to defeatism."

On Gaza: "What is our credibility worth if we remain inactive on Gaza?"

On peace: "There can be no peace without justice."

On the Gaza peace plan: "Yesterday we adopted a credible plan to put an end to the war in Gaza, to preserve a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine, to allow the release of all hostages and to save so many lives."

On barbarism: "In the Middle East, in Ukraine, in Africa, the industrialization of war crimes, of violations of law, and of the destruction of civilian infrastructure is opening a new age of barbarism."

On standing firm: "My message is to stand firm."

Worth knowing

This was a double farewell moment: UN Secretary-General António Guterres, whose term ends at year's end, was opening his last General Assembly in that role, and Macron was delivering his last address to the Assembly as President of France. The two took office within months of each other in 2026 and each leaves the stage having spent nearly a decade defending the multilateral order the speech argues for.

While President Donald Trump had described the International Court of Justice as "evil," Macron said France would continue to support the court. The contrast between the two was one of the sharpest running threads of the day's speeches.

Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon challenged Macron's claim about Hamas's presence in the West Bank, writing that "French President Emmanuel Macron claimed from the UN podium that Hamas has 'never been active' in Judea and Samaria," and noting that "just two days ago, a French citizen was murdered there."