I like Macron a lot and I very much welcome him - particularly the fact that he made Europe one of the main topics of the election debate.

During our religious instruction in school, we always asked: How can one prove the existence of God? And I have learned that the Catholic Church, which is never at a loss for an answer when it comes to existential questions, responds as follows: This question simply does not arise.

The European family may well be anything but perfect.

I wouldn't like Greece to stay recession. I do think that everything has to be undertaken to reconnect with growth.

But anyone who believes that the eternal issue of war and peace in Europe has been permanently laid to rest could be making a monumental error. The demons haven't been banished; they are merely sleeping, as the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo have shown us.

The Greek nation has to be respected. I am not in the camp of those who openly want to humiliate Greece.

I have another explanation [of Brexit]: In its 43 years of EU membership, Britain has never been able to decide whether it wants to fully or only partially belong to the EU.