Europe is 'mortal,' says French president, calls for stronger unity, sovereignty

By Nur Asena Erturk

Europe is “mortal,” the French president said Thursday, calling for a stronger unity and sovereignty.

“In the next months, I will invite all partners to build this initiative of European defense that firstly must be a strategic concept, whose relevant capacities we will determine,” Emmanuel Macron told a wide audience, including members of the government at the Sorbonne University in Paris, ahead of the EU elections scheduled in early June.

The president noted that in an international context where “the rules of the game” are changing, “Europe is mortal. It can die and this depends only on our choices. Those choices are to be made now.”

He stressed once again that Russia must not prevail in Ukraine, and stressed: “We must build a Europe capable of showing that it is never the vassal of the United States, and know how to speak to all the regions in the world.”

Macron mentioned a “strategic intimacy” between European armies, and emphasized Europe’s sovereignty in defense, recalling that he suggested in 2017 launching the “European initiative of intervention.”

- Economy

The French head of state also spoke about the European economy, and described the current European model as “non-tenable” anymore, calling to revise the growth model.

He compared the situation in Europe to that in other countries such as China and the US, and said: “The first two international powers decided to not respect the trade rules anymore. I put it simply, but this is the reality.”

- Migration policy, border protection

Macron also stressed that there is no sovereignty without borders.

“Borders are common good, we must build a political structure that would allow (us) to decide together, among all countries that share them (borders), on topics such as migration, fight against organized criminality, terrorism, and drug trafficking,” he explained.

Macron noted that France, more than other countries, needs a stronger migration policy, and called for a “change of governance to make it more efficient.”