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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
French President Emmanuel Macron gestures during a press conference at the end of the European Council summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels, April 18, 2024. /CFP
French President Emmanuel Macron appealed on Thursday for stronger, more integrated European defenses and said the continent must not become a vassal of the United States, as he outlined his vision for an independent Europe.
Faced with an "immense risk" on the "horizon of the next decade," "our Europe is mortal; she could die," said Macron in a speech at Sorbonne University in Paris.
"The risk is immense of being weakened, or even relegated, because we are in an unprecedented moment of upheaval in the world, of acceleration of major transformations," he said.
Europe "must show that it is never a vassal of the United States and that it also knows how to talk to all the other regions of the world," he said.
Macron has long called for European "strategic autonomy" involving less reliance on the United States, a stance that has gained greater resonance in the face of former U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed bid for the White House. Trump has often accused Europe of free-loading on defense at the United States' expense.
"There is no defense without a defense industry ... we've had decades of underinvestment," Macron said, adding that Europeans should give preference to buying European military equipment.
Thursday's speech was billed by Macron's advisers as France's contribution to the EU's strategic agenda for the next five years. The agenda is due to be decided after the European elections, when EU leaders will haggle over the bloc's top jobs.
(With input from agencies)