Macron warns that Europe ‘could die’ and says the US is no longer responsible for the continent’s security

The French president, Emmanuel Macronwarned, this Thursday (25), that the Europe “can die” in a world in which “the rules of the game” have been changed, arguing for the reinforcement of its “sovereignty” with a credible defense or a new trade policy. “We must be clear-eyed that currently our Europe is mortal, it could die,” declared Macron, in a speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris on the future of the continent based on “A powerful, prosperous and humanist Europe”. The speech at the French university is seen as an attempt to boost his centrist alliance in the European elections in June, in addition to following the line of a very important one he made on Europe seven years ago. During the almost two-hour speech, he detailed what decisions Europe should adopt “now” to avoid being “excluded” in the next decade in the areas of cyber defense, artificial intelligence or ecological transition.

As in 2017, the 46-year-old president, who after the end of German Angela Merkel’s term in office is considered the EU’s most important leader, defended a more sovereign and strategically more autonomous Europe. “The days when Europe bought its energy and fertilizers from Russia, exported its production to China and delegated its security to the United States are behind us,” assured Macron. “We are still very slow and unambitious”, he declared, advocating for a strong Europe that “enforces itself to be respected”, “guarantees its security”, “protects its borders” and regains its “strategic autonomy”. According to him, the continent cannot be a “vassal” of the United States, reiterating that it is “indispensable” that “Russia does not win the war of aggression in Ukraine” for its own European security. He also defended a Europe as a “balancing force” between China and the USA, which cooperates with emerging powers and with Latin America, Africa and other regions of the world.

Macron warned that the “rules of the game” have changed and even Beijing and Washington “no longer respect” global trade standards. “It cannot work if we are the only ones in the world who respect the rules of trade as they were written 15 years ago, if the Chinese and Americans no longer respect them,” he said. Despite this, Macron celebrated that “no one proposes to leave Europe” or the “euro” zone anymore, in reference to the extreme right, but criticized that they still want to kill the European project, undermining it from within.

*With information from AFP