Emmanuel Macron seeks to advertise his support for Ukraine

, Emmanuel Macron, left his electoral worries at home on June 14th when he flew to Romania to start a brief tour of eastern Europe. Just days before the run-off votes in legislative elections that could see the re-elected president , Mr Macron appeared to be focused less on winning over the French than on courting other Europeans. The president seems belatedly to have grasped how much confusion, if not distrust, lingers on Europe’s eastern fringe about his position on the .Mr Macron’s Romanian leg included a visit to the 500 French troops stationed at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, about 100km (60 miles) from the border with Ukraine, as part of a operation. In making the visit, Mr Macron’s message was clear: France is contributing energetically to collective European deterrence in the face of Russian aggression, and to the defence of the alliance’s eastern flank. French troops are also participating in a operation in Estonia.