10 minutes agoMacro: Europe may die, we must show that we are not dependent on the United States
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)French President Emmanuel Macron called on Thursday for stronger and more integrated European protection, and said the continent should not become a vassal of the United States, as he described his vision of a more secure European Union on the global scene, Reuters writes. With only three years [...]
French President Emmanuel Macron called on Thursday for stronger and more integrated European protection, and said the continent should not become a vassal of the United States, as he described his vision of a more secure European Union on the global scene, Reuters writes.
With only three years remaining from his second and last term in office, and after losing his parliamentary majority in 2022, Macron, 46, wants to show his critics that he guards the fresh energy and thought that helped push him into the presidency in 2017 and that he has not become a lame leader, Television broadcast.
There's a risk of our Europe dying. We are not equipped to cope with risks”, Macron said in his speech at the University of Sorbonne in Paris, warning that military, economic and other pressures could weaken and break up the 27-nation EU.
Macron said Russia should not be allowed to win in Ukraine and called for an increase in Europe's cyber security capacity, closer defence ties with Britain after Brex and the establishment of a European academy to train high-ranking military personnel.
“There is no protection without a defence industry... we have had decades of subinvestment”, he said, adding that Europeans should give priority to buying European military equipment.
“We must produce more, we must produce faster and we must produce as European”, Macron said.
Europe “should show that it is never a vassal of the United States and that it also knows to speak to all other regions of the world”, the French president stressed.
Macro has long called for the European strategic “x1> that includes less support in the United States, a stance that has gained greater resonance in the face of Donald Trump's renewed offer for the White House. Trump has often accused Europe of free charge of defence at the expense of the United States.
However, many EU officials believe there is currently no reliable alternative to the US military umbrella, and some suspect Macro is pushing French industrial interests.
