“There is a risk that our Europe will die. We are not equipped to face the risks,” Macron said in a speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris, warning that military, economic and other pressures could weaken and fragment the EU, made up of 27 nations.
Macron said Russia must not be allowed to win in Ukraine and called for an increase in Europe’s cybersecurity capability, closer defense ties with the UK post-Brexit and the creation of a European academy to train senior military personnel .
“There is no defense without a defense industry… we have had decades of underinvestment,” he declared, adding that Europeans should give preference to purchasing European military equipment.
“We need to produce more, we need to produce faster and we need to produce like Europeans,” Macron said.
Europe “has to show that it is never a vassal of the United States and that it also knows how to talk to all other regions of the world,” he said.
Macron has long defended European “strategic autonomy”, which involves less dependence on the United States, a position that has gained greater resonance in the face of Donald Trump’s new candidacy for the White House. Trump has always accused Europe of taking advantage of defense at the expense of the United States.
Tags: Macron calls stronger defenses economic reforms Europe die
