Macron says Europe should respond to Trump “Electroshock”

Emmanuel Macron described Donald Trump’s return as “Electrick” that must force Europe to secure its future as well as Ukraine.

In an interview at the Ellisse Palace shortly after Trump’s agreement with Vladimir Putin from Russia to hold imminent peace talks, the French president defended the need for Europe to “defend” against defense and economy.

He insisted that Ukraine President Volodimir Zelinski is the only one who can negotiate on behalf of his country, warning that allowing “peace surrender” will be “bad news for all”, including the United States.

“The only question at this stage is whether President Putin is honestly, sustainable and ready for credibility to agree to the ceasefire on this basis. After that, it was up to the Ukrainians to negotiate with Russia,” adding: “We all need to stay collectively.”

The French leader has long argued that Europe should bear more responsibility for its security, which will only be possible by increasing economic independence and reducing its dependence on the United States and China.

He described Trump’s return to the White House as a tremor to push the European Union to invest in defending defense, economy and technology. This means giving up a financial framework and criticism, and the European Union approved it for the first time in 1992, which he described as “outdated.”

He said, “This is the moment of Europe to accelerate and implement,” while he warned of the risk of failure in the European Union. “He has no choice. He runs out of the way.”

Whether Macron is able to mobilize other European countries to his program, it is an open question, especially since he was weak at home and in Brussels by the political paralysis that followed the elections last year. France’s generally exhausted financial affairs also limit its ability to make the necessary investments in defense and other priorities.

However, the French president supported the Trump administration’s position that he has the responsibility of Europe to ensure the security of Ukraine, saying that it has arisen from a transformation between generations and the two parties in the priorities of America’s foreign policy away from Europe and towards Asia.

Macron added that the union of the United States did not start with Trump’s return to power, noting that he had “received a call” submitted by the Biden administration about the AUKUS submarine deal with Australia and the United Kingdom or about its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“What Trump says to Europe is that it is up to you to carry the burden. I say, it is up to us to take it.”

While many European leaders’ reaction was fiercely to Trump’s talks with Putin about ending the war in Ukraine, Macron seemed more optimistic. After he spoke to Trump on the phone earlier in the week, Macron said he had “not surprised” the movement of the US President.

He said Trump invented a “opportunity window” to resolve negotiations, as “everyone should play their role.”

The role of the United States is to “restart this dialogue” and take the initiative because Trump brought “an element of strategic turmoil.” He said that the matter is up to Zelinski “alone” to discuss “regional and sovereignty issues.” And “it is up to the international community, with a specific role for the Europeans, to discuss security guarantees, and on a broader scale, the security framework for the entire region. This is where we have a role to play.”

The other European allies condemned Washington’s clear concessions to Putin before the talks began, including excluding NATO membership in Ukraine and describing a complete restoration of its regional safety as “fake”.

But Macron was careful not to criticize, noting that – at the time of the interview – it was the US Defense Secretary, Beit Higseth, who said that NATO’s joining Kiev “was not a realistic result,” not the American president. (Trump later said he believed the membership is not a “practical”.

Macron is leading discussions between European allies on how to guarantee any peace agreement, including the possibility of deploying forces to Ukraine to deter more Russian aggression.

Zelenskyy only said that a force between 150,000 to 200,000 soldiers with the involvement of the United States will deter Russia from the attack again. Publishing on such a scale will be impossible on the exhausted armies in Europe.

Macron said that while it was very early to talk about the numbers, such a large publishing was “far -fetching”, adding: “We have to do appropriate, realistic, well -thoughtful things, measurement and negotiation.”

In response to a question about Trump’s threat to Greenland’s annex, Macron said that the US president’s concerns about marine road security in the Arctic were “respectable”, but should be treated collectively by allies in NATO. He said that he had asked NATO Secretary -General Mark Retty to develop a strategy for the Arctic Security, including through possible joint military operations.

As for Trump’s proposal to redevelop Gaza, after its 2.2 million residents took out to neighboring Arab countries, Macron was more severe. Ghazhan’s expulsion will be “very dangerous”.

For me, the solution is not a real estate solution. It is a political solution. “

Macron said that Trump’s designs on Gaza and Greenland were examples of “extreme strategic uncertainty” in which the world now lives. He demanded a radical rejection of how the European Union and member states work.

It is an electrician. We need asymmetric shocks, we need external shocks. It is an external shock for Europeans. “

This will help bring clarity to those in Europe who still believe they can live in a state of “strategic dependency”.

“This model, which says that you have the Chinese market as an outlet, you have the American umbrella for our security and you have a cheap Russian gas to be able to produce it, and forget the three.”

In order for Europe to accomplish the “strategic waking” to which Macron pleads, you will need to enhance defense and revive stagnant growth now with the outbreak of cancellation and economic integration of everything from capital markets to energy to enable the European Union to reap the benefits of its size.

In the defense, Macron said that Europe must build its capabilities so that it can act “even when the United States is not involved.”

However, even three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the change in the defense industry has stopped. Although the production capacity of ammunition and missiles have risen, European defense companies are still very fragmented to produce them widely.

The two countries are also linked to national defense companies, and are often cautious about joint development programs, even more cautious about border integration that can create European defense champions.

Once again, Macron urged Europe to dismantle itself to rely on buying American weapons, a long priority from France, saying that the partners should buy the French-Italian air defense system. He said he was “better” than the national, the American equivalent, which was already used by many European Union countries.

“We must also develop an integrated base for defense, industrial and technology,” said Macron. This goes beyond a simple discussion on the spending of characters. If all we do is older agents in the United States, then the 20 -year -old will not solve the issue of European sovereignty. “

To enable European countries to invest more in their defense, Macron has argued over “innovative financing solutions”, which could include the most common borrowing in the European Union, as happened during the Coronverus virus. Germany has yet been strongly opposed. Macron said he hoped the situation will develop after the German federal elections on February 23.

He said that Europe’s challenges were now sharp as they were during the epidemic. To address it, Europe needed to liberate itself from deficit caps in light of the European Union growth and stability agreement, which requires countries to maintain a deficit of less than 3 percent of GDP. “He is outdated,” he said about the rules of the European Union. “The financial and critical framework in which we live is outdated.”

“Europe is not prepared”, given the need to invest in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, green and security.

Macron also called for the decline in the European Union regulations that he delivered as arduous and unrealistic. This includes the guidance of the sustainability of companies in the European Union, and the fines waving on the horizon on car makers who did not meet the electric vehicle shares, which were called “crazy”. He also warned that Europe should not hinder banks by applying the most stringent capital requirements because the United States seemed ready to ignore the internationally agreed rules.

However, Macron was asked when asked whether the European Union needs its own version of the so -called government efficiency in Trump (DOGE) where the billionaire launched ELON Musk to reduce government spending. “There is a need to radically simplify. It is better to make bold decisions and politically responsible instead of demolishing everything.”

Macron admitted that it might take “five to 10 years” so that Europe can reinforce, and the time he no longer has at the end of his term in 2027. He warned of expanding the influence of the European Union on their lives.

But Macron still has confidence in his ability to persuade. He said, “I still believe,” adding with a distinctive intellectual prosperity: “I love humanity in the Renaissance and the philosophy of enlightenment. This is what made us. I do not think these ideas are old -fashioned. I think, on the contrary, we have to re -invent them.”