Europe won't 'delegate security to Americans forever,' says France's Macron

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – Europe must not delegate its security to Americans forever, the French president said on Thursday.

Emmanuel Macron addressed the European leaders at the fifth European Political Community (EPC) summit in Budapest, Hungary’s capital, on Thursday, stressing NATO’s “key role” in Europe’s security.

“And within NATO, we want to play our role… There has been a strategic awakening that we Europeans must take on. We must not delegate our security to Americans forever,” Macron said.

The president noted that Europe must send the message that it is now a “supplier of security solutions,” and called on more countries to join the European Intervention Initiative that was founded in 2018 to “build common solutions.”

Macron, in this context, commented on former US President Donald Trump’s presidential comeback for a second term.

“I do think that our role here… is not to comment on Donald Trump’s election, to know whether it is good or bad. He was elected by the American people, and he will defend the Americans’ interests, and this is legitimate and a good thing. The question is, are we ready to defend Europeans’ interests?” he asked.

Since Trump won another term on Tuesday and is set to succeed current President Joe Biden, European leaders have stressed that Europe must do more on its own, as Trump has been critical of the transatlantic NATO alliance and has even been rumored to favor US withdrawal.

Macron said the position to take in the face of challenges involving China and the US is neither naive transatlantic (union), questioning Europe's alliances, nor tight nationalism.

“It is a decisive moment in history for us Europeans,” he added, calling for energy integration, particularly electricity in Europe.

He further stressed the need for Europe to simplify the rules, move faster, and be stronger in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) and clean technologies.

“We must stop to give the image of a supermarket open to all,” he said. “Our open liberal democracy model is a target for other powers with opposing agendas who seek to divide us."

Macron also regretted European countries’ idea that they must delegate their geopolitics to the US, and growth model to Chinese clients.

“I think we can take back control,” he noted.