Europe is “besieged” and “under-armed” against the challenges posed by “unscrupulous regional powers” such as China and Russia. For this reason, one should aim to increase his defenses without forgetting that he “might die”. This is the warning raised by Emmanuel Macron in his speech on Europe at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
Three years into his second and last term, and after losing his parliamentary majority in 2022, the President wants to show his critics that he retains the energy and freshness of thought that propelled him to the presidency in 2017, and to return to his former position. Ask to prepare for a possible war. “There is a risk of our Europe dying. We are not equipped to face the risks,” the 46-year-old leader said. RenaissanceHe warned that military, economic and other pressures could weaken and disintegrate the 27-state European Union.
Macron said Russia should not be allowed to win in Ukraine and called for increasing Europe’s cybersecurity capacity, closer defense ties with Britain after Brexit and the establishment of a European academy to train senior military personnel. “There is no defense without a defense industry, we have underinvested for decades,” he said, adding that Europeans should prioritize purchasing military equipment from Europe. “We must produce more, we must produce faster, and we must produce like Europeans,” he demanded.
He added that Europe “must show that it has never been a slave to the United States and that it knows how to dialogue with other parts of the world.” Macron has long called for “strategic autonomy” for Europe that would lead to less dependence on the United States; This position found greater resonance in the face of Donald Trump’s new candidacy for the White House. The Republican has often accused Europe of exploiting U.S. spending to save money on military spending and has said in the past that he would not defend an ally that does not spend enough on defense.
“The rules of the game have changed and the era when Europe handed over its protection to the United States is over. There is a tremendous risk of weakening in the next decade because we are living in a moment of unprecedented acceleration of transformations.” The survival of Europe depends solely on our choices, Macron said, and they must be made now, because our ability to guarantee our security is at stake, and because of the major transitions and challenges posed by artificial intelligence, the digital transition and the environment. “The game of responding to attacks on liberal democracies, on our values, and on the basis of European civilisation, is now being played,” he concluded.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
