Macron warns that Europe ‘could die’ without a stronger military economy

Macron delivered the comments in what was billed as a follow-up to the historic speech he gave at the Sorbonne University in Paris at the start of his first term. Seven years later – after a pandemic and the outbreak of wars in Ukraine and Gaza – Macron returned to the Sorbonne on Thursday with an ominous message that placed Europe as a continent at a tipping point, beset by superpower rivalry between the US and China. and Russia.

“We must be clear about the fact that our Europe today is mortal – it can die – and that it depends only on the choices we make,” Macron said. “But these choices must be made now, because it is today that the issue of peace and war are taking place on our continent.”

Concerns are running high in Europe about the breakdown of the transatlantic ties that have underpinned global security and trade since the end of World War II. This week, Congress approved a $95.3 billion foreign aid package that sent desperately needed weapons to Ukraine’s beleaguered armed forces and boosted Israel’s missile defense systems. But that came after a heartbreaking debate over Ukraine that sharply divided the Republican Party, with many members drifting toward Donald Trump’s “America First” isolationism.

Macron sees Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an existential threat to the continent and warns that if Kiev falls, other capitals could be next.

On Thursday, he called on the EU to issue common debt to finance military investments – a concept opposed by Germany and several other northern European countries – just as the continent tapped debt markets to finance its response to the Covid pandemic.

“We are not armed to face the risks we face,” Macron said.

The French leader’s pursuit of European autonomy has previously gotten him into trouble with his allies. In February, he clashed with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz over the Frenchman’s refusal to rule out sending troops from NATO countries to Ukraine – part of what Macron sees as a position of “strategic ambiguity” that would exclude all military leaves options on the table and leaves Moscow in the dark.

On Thursday, Macron said Europe must strengthen its role in NATO. Many countries in the alliance still do not meet the threshold of spending 2% of GDP on their militaries. Europe, he said, also needed to take more initiative in defining a strategy for its collective defense.

“We must build a Europe that can show that it is never the vassal of the United States of America, and that also knows how to address all regions of the world.”

Scholz responded to Macron’s speech with a message on X, saying: “France and Germany both want Europe to stay strong. Your speech contains good ideas to achieve this.”

Write to Noemie Bisserbe at [email protected] and Stacy Meichtry at [email protected]