Macron says Europe cannot depend on US protection

The statement was made during a meeting with students at a French-Cypriot college in Nicosia, where the French leader is on an official visit before an informal summit of European heads of government.

“The challenge for our Europe is to be stronger and more independent, because we have a United States that will no longer protect us in the long term,” said Macron, as reported by the agency EFE. According to him, the current generation of Europeans can no longer take for granted the idea that marked the construction of the European bloc after the Second World War, that Washington would permanently protect the continent.

The French president highlighted that the United States continues to be an ally of Europe, something he classified as “fundamental”. Even so, he assessed that American international policy is undergoing important changes, requiring a new stance from European countries in relation to their own defense.

To support this analysis, Macron cited the American role in the conflict against Iran alongside Israel, the tensions between the European Union and Washington involving Greenland and the US position on the war in Ukraine. In the Frenchman’s opinion, these episodes reflect a strategic change in American global operations.

Faced with this scenario, Macron once again defended the development of European sovereignty in the military and technological areas, reducing external dependencies. The proposal is an old banner of the French president, who has been pushing for greater defense capacity within the European Union for years.