Attal Opens 2027 Race as Macron Says Hantavirus Controlled

France ran two long-running storylines in parallel on May 13: a hantavirus outbreak entering a deliberate transparency phase, and Gabriel Attal's formal opening of the 2027 presidential race.

The outbreak tally stood at 22 contact cases, with one French woman remaining in intensive care in serious condition. The government chose openness over reassurance. Opinion specialist Emmanuel Rivière framed the strategy as "treating citizens as adults," and President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi, told reporters the situation was "under control under its authority, thanks to our healthcare workers" and called for stronger European coordination. France's health minister said separately there was "no evidence of widespread hantavirus circulation in France." Public reaction tracked the government framing — citizens cited their post-pandemic experience as a reason for calm, though some said they would consider wearing masks again. European coordination ran ahead of national reassurance: ECDC director Pamela Rendi-Wagner pushed back on Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's call for closer EU cooperation, telling reporters daily meetings between national authorities and experts had been ongoing since the outbreak was reported on May 2 and that cooperation had been "very, very strong." Paris, Madrid and a handful of capitals had implemented "one of the most stringent protocols." The outbreak's origin remains the cruise ship MV Hondius, where three people had died from the virus before the French case was hospitalised.

Attal's political move came through a publishing event. His book recounts a conversation five days before the 2024 European election in which Macron rejected his proposals for a cabinet reshuffle or referendums, then phoned him an hour before the televised address to announce snap parliamentary elections. The Renaissance party's National Council backed Attal's candidacy with 91% of the vote on Tuesday evening, asking him to formally declare by October 1 pending a membership vote. The shift came a week after Elisabeth Borne — the previous Council chair, and the only prime minister Macron appointed before Attal — resigned the role, citing disagreement with Attal's political direction.

From Nairobi, Macron put France's broader diplomatic positions on record. Speaking to RFI at the close of the Africa Forward summit, he said he was "incredibly proud" of his Africa record and described his approach as a "partnership of equals," then criticised Mali's junta for partnering with Russian militias, expressed reservations about US sanctions on Rwanda over the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo conflict, and called for renewed peace efforts in Sudan. He named the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz France's "absolute priority" when it hosts the G7 in June — anchoring the trip to the broader Iran-war diplomacy that has framed European energy markets all spring.