When French President Emmanuel Macron arrived at the luxury Borgo Egnazia Italian resort on Thursday for the annual Group of Seven G7 leaders summit, he could have been forgiven for seeming a little downcast.
But after dissolving parliament and plunging France into a rocky political period just weeks before hosting the Olympic Games, he was all smiles and relaxed as arch-conservative Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni greeted him.
Yet his dramatic decision, taken after the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) trounced his ruling party in EU parliamentary elections, has dealt a gut punch to some of his closest allies and weakened him across the bloc, diplomats say.
They add that he may struggle to exert as much influence in his diplomatic dealings for now, especially as his centrist bloc in the European parliament will be smaller, making it harder for him to influence talks for future EU posts.
For much of the last seven years in power, Macron has billed himself as the leader and kingmaker in Europe, while trying to assert France's role in crises from Ukraine to the Middle East, despite Paris' ultimate influence being limited.
His style has grated some, his initiative exasperated others, but he has at the very least been able to weigh on key issues and project France's image overseas.
"There will be no more leadership left in Europe. Macron was the last Mohican to try to play this role," said a senior European diplomat in Paris.
The diplomat hoped that Macron would somehow manage to muster a coalition of French traditional political parties in the in the two-round June 30/July 7 legislative election.
French officials are downplaying the impact overseas. When asked whether Macron would use the G7 to reassure leaders after his gamble, a French presidency official said he was a "little surprised by the question."
"There is no explanation to be given here. He may get questions and you know the president, he has no fear of giving replies, but he has no justification to give to G7 members."
TWEET YOUR COMMENT