Donald Trump, Jill Biden, Albert of Monaco… which personalities will be at the ceremony?

The list of guests at the reopening of Notre-Dame is growing, and a last-minute guest has slipped into the Elysée’s little papers. At the start of the week, Donald Trump himself confirmed his arrival in Paris. “It will be a very special day for everyone! “, he wrote on his network, Truth Social. “President Emmanuel Macron has done a tremendous job so that Notre-Dame regains all its splendor, and much more. » On April 15, 2019, the day of the cathedral fire, he was one of the first heads of state to express emotion on Twitter (now X). With his characteristic spontaneity, he suggested sending Canadairs above the cathedral. Five years later, and while he attracted the support of 58% of American Catholics during the presidential election, attending the reopening of the Lady of Stone is a symbolic way of sending a message to his electorate for Donald Trump.

A diplomatic event

This trip will be the Republican’s first abroad, one month after his election, and six weeks before his inauguration at the White House. While the composition of his government raises questions about his intentions internationally, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East, this visit is also a political coup. Emmanuel Macron intends to appear alongside Donald Trump in the photo in front of cameras around the world, at the risk of transforming this ceremony into a globalized diplomatic event.

Because many of them will want to shake hands and exchange a few words with the future 47th president of the world’s leading power, especially in the absence of Joe Biden, who will be represented by the first lady of the United States, Jill Biden . On the square of the Stone Lady, there should be many European presidents: the German Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Italian Sergio Mattarella, the Pole Andrzej Duda, the Croatian Zoran Milanović, the Bulgarian Roumen Radev, the Estonian Alar Karis , the Finnish Alexander Stubb, or the Lithuanian Gitanas Nausėda. Alongside him, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinian, and the President of Georgia, Salomé Zourabichvili, should also be present.

African presidents

The Belgian royal couple, Philippe and Mathilde, as well as Prince Albert of Monaco are also expected to attend the ceremony. But this global event is also an opportunity to maintain France’s relations with its African allies. Thus, the President of Congo, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, as well as the Gabonese Brice Oligui Nguema and the Togolese Faure Gnassingbé are expected to make the trip.

To ensure the security of all these heads of state, an exceptional system, inspired by that of the Olympic Games, is planned in a context of “very high level of terrorist threat”, according to the police headquarters, cited by AFP. With 6,000 police and gendarmes mobilized, only guests will be able to access the square, whose reception capacity is limited to 3,000 people.

Zelensky and Pope Francis absent

The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has still not responded to the official invitation from the Élysée. 24 hours before the event, its presence is uncertain and will undoubtedly remain so for security reasons.

Among those absent is Pope Francis, who declined the invitation launched by France last year. He will nevertheless speak at the start of the celebration via a message “intended for the French”, sent to the Archbishop of Paris. As a reminder, he had motivated his refusal by his desire not to make his coming to Paris a political event which would overshadow the rebirth of the cathedral. “The star of the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris is Notre-Dame de Paris,” he insisted. Francis did not want to “look away from him on this occasion,” declared the president of the Conference of Bishops of France, Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort. Returning from Uruguay, where she negotiated certain aspects of the free trade treaty with Mercosur, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will also be notably absent.