Macron calls for EU defence independence
French president Emmanuel Macron urged Europe to stop relying on the US for military defence and called for a new, integrated EU approach to prevent the bloc from falling apart.
Mr Macron said he would put forward new proposals in the coming months for the EU to boost defence co-operation, as well as talks with Russia on their security relationship.
Eastern European countries have become increasingly nervous over Russia’s apparent willingness to interfere around the globe, particularly in bordering states.
“Europe can no longer rely on the US for its security. It is up to us to guarantee European security,” Mr Macron told an audience of up to 250 diplomats, politicians and international relations experts in Paris yesterday.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from the Nato military alliance, which groups the US with most of Europe and has underpinned European security since the Second World War.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has made similar calls for boosted military co-operation and Mr Macron’s comments are likely to find support in Berlin.
Writing in the Handelsblatt newspaper, Mr Maas called for Europe to “take an equal share of the responsibility” and “form a counterweight” to Washington as Europe-US relations cool.
In the past year, France and Germany backed the idea of a small joint European response force and also announced plans to develop a fighter jet together.
Mr Macron came to power last year vowing to overhaul the EU. He has pushed for deep political reforms – including a separate budget for the eurozone – that have so far met with lukewarm support.
His agenda has been hit by the rise of a new eurosceptic and nationalist government in Italy, as well as resistance from right-wing leaders in Poland and Hungary. He admitted that “France seems sometimes to be on a solitary path.”
But Mr Macron criticised the rising tide of nationalism and called for countries to heal divisions that have widened – in particular, over how to tackle the influx of migrants.
“France wants a Europe which protects, even as extremism has grown stronger and nationalism has awoken,” he said.
“Divisions between north and south over economics, between east and west on migration, too often fracture our European Union,” said Mr Macron, urging a humanist approach to the changes brought by globalisation.
As for the solution, he insisted his approach would be to “give up nothing of the ambitions set out a year ago” when he came to office. This would mean creating a more integrated EU with greater strategic autonomy.
“Do China and the United States think of Europe as a power with similar independence to their own? It is not the case,” he said.
He also took a swipe at ruling populists in Hungary and Italy, drily noting that their anti-EU rhetoric seemed to vanish when it came to accepting economic development
Europe can no longer rely on the United States for its security.
It is up to us to guarantee European security EMMANUEL MACRON French President
aid from the EU.
“There is a clear approach of European opportunism while claiming to be nationalist,” Mr Macron said, calling out Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
But he did acknowledge that a lack of European solidarity had played a role in prompting disputes in recent months with Italy over migration.
“But does that excuse xenophobic comments?” he asked, in a jab at Italy’s far-right League. “I don’t think so and these xenophobes bring no solutions to the problem they complain of.”
Mr Macron called for Europe to build “strategic partnerships” with neighbours Turkey and Russia, despite their differences.
Britain will also be in line for a “strategic partnership” after its departure from the EU – but Mr Macron said Brexit must not come at the cost of the unity of the rest of the EU.