PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Emmanuel Macron is set to attend a biennial meeting of French-speaking territories beginning on Saturday in Cambodia, where the French president contending with public unrest at home will face international political challenges as a conflict in Africa hangs over the proceedings.
Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron were greeted on the tarmac in Phnom Penh by traditional Apsara dancers performing classical blessings. The French leader, who said on X that he seeks to develop new markets in Cambodia for French businesses, later met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, or OIF, is holding the three-day meeting through Monday in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. Macron is expected to engage in bilateral discussions and join the summit meeting of the loose confederation of 90 member states and governments comprising 53 full members, five associate members and 32 observers — all French-speaking places.
Cambodia will take over the summit's chairmanship from Macron, who served as chair in 2024 when France was the host nation.
Before departing for Malaysia on Monday, Macron is to visit the famed Angkor World Heritage Site near the city of Siem Reap, where he and King Norodom Sihamoni will mark the completion of a French-supported restoration of the West Mebon temple.
Macron's trip comes at a time of widespread domestic protests, with more than 600,000 people taking to the streets earlier this month to demand higher wages and support the country's student protest movement. The protests have seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and schools set on fire.
The conflict in eastern Congo may roil the proceedings
The summit's sticky diplomacy will be on display on Monday when Macron and other leaders will decide who will serve for the next four years as secretary-general — the group’s leader and chief executive.
The choices initially included candidates from two bitterly feuding African members, Rwanda's Louise Mushikiwabo, who is seeking reelection to a third four-year term, and the Democratic Republic of Congo's Juliana Lumumba, the 71-year-old daughter of the country's martyred independence hero, Patrice Lumumba.
On Saturday, Congo announced it was withdrawing Lumumba's candidacy and throwing its weight behind that of Romanian former Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, to allow “consensus around a unifying candidacy.”
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the team of Mushikiwabo, OIF's incumbent secretary general.
Congo, the United States and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing the M23, one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, along the border with Rwanda. Rwanda's government consistently denies backing armed groups in Congo.
Congo has threatened to leave the OIF if Mushikiwabo is reelected. With a population exceeding 110 million people — over 40 million more than France — Congo is the most populous nation where French is the official language, and its withdrawal would mark a significant blow to the organization.
Macron's office said on Saturday evening that most members agreed on the need for consensus on the OIF leadership issue and that he would take up the matter with his African counterparts. France is influential in the decision as the largest contributor to the OIF 2026 budget of €71.7 million ($79 million).
The challenge comes on the heels of the withdrawals of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from the OIF announced in March 2025, following their membership suspensions over military coups.
Mali said the suspensions infringed on sovereignty, but the withdrawals also came in the context of Francophone African countries shedding French political, military and cultural influence that they regarded as overbearing.
Cambodia welcomes world leaders
The summit's slogan, “Reinvest in Peace for Shared Prosperity and Lasting Stability,” is seen as a reflection of Cambodia’s recovery from years of war and unrest in the last quarter of the 20th century.
About 20 government leaders, including Canada’s Mark Carney, Vietnam’s To Lam, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Félix Tshisekedi, are expected to attend the summit and likely will meet with Cambodia's king and prime minister.
Most of the summit’s agenda is not disputed — there will be documents on commitment to peaceful coexistence, social, cultural and economic cooperation, crisis resolution and peace-building, as well as on the protection of cultural heritage and the promotion of cultural diversity.
Host Cambodia, which has an opportunity to showcase tourism potential and business opportunities, is holding side events highlighting commercial partnerships, cultural exchanges, science and technology.
Local political activists see the meeting as an occasion to press for more democratic freedoms in a de facto one-party state. U.N. Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews issued a statement pleading with summit delegates to uphold OIF values and pressure the Cambodian government for the release of detained rights activists.
“No one should be detained for defending human rights, reporting on matters of public concern, or voicing critical opinions,” he said.
Cambodia has a claim to helping the birth of the OIF, as its late king and mercurial independence leader, Norodom Sihanouk, was one of four founders in 1970 of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation. Sihanouk was overthrown and his immediate successors did not join, as Cambodia subsequently endured civil war and the brutal rule of the communist Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. Cambodia joined OIF as an observer in 1991 and became a full member in 1993.
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Peck reported from Bangkok.