Merkel, Macron urge EU coordination on reopening borders
French president: European defense autonomy, NATO membership are compatible
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron called on Friday for European Union countries to coordinate their COVID-19 border reopening policies and guard against new variants of the virus.
Macron said EU countries must be careful not to allow new variants to spread, adding that the EU was watching developments in Britain, which has seen a steep rise in the weekly reported cases of the Delta variant.
“Some countries have reopened their borders earlier for tourist industry reasons, but we must be careful not to re-import new variants,” he told a joint news conference with Merkel before a working dinner at the chancellery in Berlin.
Merkel added: “We can’t act as if the coronavirus is over.”
“Caution is still necessary so that we have a summer of many freedoms, if not all freedoms,” she said.
Turning to EU relations with Russia, Merkel said the bloc should maintain dialog with Moscow despite major differences on issues of security and the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.
“Russia is a big challenge for us, but Russia is also a continental neighbor of the European Union and we need to ensure that all hybrid (cyber) attacks are stopped,” Merkel said.
“But on the other hand we have an interest to remain in dialog with Russia if we want security and stability in the European Union, as difficult as this is.”
She added: “I believe when US President Joe Biden meets Russian President Vladimir Putin and holds an open dialog it is also important the we on the European side do the same.”
Macron said that the goal of European defense autonomy could go hand in hand with NATO membership.
“We have succeeded in instilling the idea that European defense, and strategic defense autonomy, can be an alternative project to the trans-Atlantic organization, but very much a solid component of this,” Macron told a news conference before holding talks with Merkel.
Macron also said Biden had expressed his respect for the European Union on the political level as well as his desire to work with the EU as a partner.
Merkel, who prefers to see NATO remain the centerpiece of European defense, said she was happy the US had recreated a “climate of
cooperation.”
“It is very clear from the G7 and NATO talks that the United States sees itself as both a Pacific and an Atlantic nation and, given the strength of China, is naturally challenged to be much stronger in the Pacific than perhaps it was 20 years ago,” she added.
“And that means for us Europeans that we have to take on certain tasks and responsibilities for ourselves... but I see the absolute necessity – and I think this is also expected of the United States of America – that we act coherently,” Merkel said.