Emmanuel Macron warned, this Monday, May 27, against the far right, “this bad wind” which “is blowing in Europe” calling for people to wake up to defend democracy less than two weeks before the European elections.
“Let’s look around us at the fascination with authoritarian regimes, let’s look around us at the illiberal moment we are experiencing,” declared the French head of state during a speech to young Europeans in Dresden, in the east from Germany where he is making a state visit. “The extreme right, this bad wind is blowing in Europe, it’s a reality, so let’s wake up!”, he said, assuring that Europe is at “an unprecedented moment in its history” which constrains it to think for itself “its defense and its security”, particularly in the face of a Russia which “will be there tomorrow, the day after tomorrow”.
“We will not change geography with Russia, which today threatens our security and has attacked Ukraine,” he continued. “We Europeans want a lasting peace, that is to say the peace that the Ukrainians – because we will have allowed them to defend themselves – will have chosen and negotiated”, and which will not be a “capitulation”.
The alliance with the United States questioned
Emmanuel Macron also raised the question of the alliance between the European Union and the United States, still today the main arms supplier to Ukraine to help it repel the Russian aggressor. “We have the right and even the duty to tell ourselves how lucky we are to have these allies. But is it reasonable to ask them to make ever more efforts,” he added, once again pleading forcefully for that Europe takes its defense into its own hands. A message addressed quite directly to Germany, one of the European countries which has relied the most on NATO to ensure its defense for several decades now.
“We have to think about our defense […] as an ally within NATO, to do so as a member of the European Union, but also to say to ourselves as a member of the European political community”, continued the French president. “The true reunification of Europe will be a Europe which knows how to think about its common security and defense framework by itself and for itself, this is the challenge of the coming years,” he insisted.
At the start of his visit on Sunday, Emmanuel Macron had already set the scene, believing that democracy was in “crisis”, shaken by the “rise” of extremes and a “fascination with authoritarianism”.
Macron wants a “European preference”
Still from Dresden, Emmanuel Macron also spoke on the economic aspect, explaining that Europe must “get out of naivety” and “protect itself better” on the commercial level by building “a European preference” in certain areas. “Europe is the last place where we are open to the rest of the world without European preference and without rules,” lamented the French head of state, calling for a review of trade rules in the face of competition from China and other States. -United.
Emmanuel Macron notably defended the vision of a Europe which better protects its industries of the future and invests massively in their favor. But this strategy faces skepticism from other European partners who fear entering a spiral of trade wars and are attached to budgetary rules. Before once again repeating his desire to “double” the EU budget in order to “provide much more common public investment”.