'Europe could die,' France's Macron says as he calls for stronger defense and economic reform
President Emmanuel Macron appealed for stronger, more integrated European defenses and said the continent must not become a vassal of the United States.
French President Emmanuel Macron appealed on Thursday for stronger, more integrated European defenses and said the continent must not become a vassal of the United States, as he outlined his vision for a more assertive European Union on the global stage.
With just three years left of his second and final term in office, and after losing his parliamentary majority in 2022, Macron, 46, wants to show his critics that he retains the energy and fresh thinking that helped propel him into the presidency in 2017 and that he has not become a lame duck leader.
“There is a risk our Europe could die. We are not equipped to face the risks,” Macron said in his speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris, warning that military, economic and other pressures could weaken and fragment the 27-nation E.U.
Macron said Russia must not be allowed to win in Ukraine, and he called for a boost in Europe’s cybersecurity capacity, closer defense ties with post-Brexit Britain, and the creation of a European academy to train high-ranking military personnel.
“There is no defense without a defense industry ... we’ve had decades of under-investment,” he said, adding that Europeans should give preference to buying European military equipment.
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