Europe must respond to Trump ‘electroshock’, says Macron
https://www.ft.com/content/1ee43b51-9d3a-47d2-adf6-3315c38e1c38
by JackRogers3
Europe must respond to Trump ‘electroshock’, says Macron
https://www.ft.com/content/1ee43b51-9d3a-47d2-adf6-3315c38e1c38
by JackRogers3
32 comments
Emmanuel Macron has described Donald Trump’s return as an “electroshock” that should force Europe to secure its own future as well as Ukraine’s.
In an interview at the Élysée Palace shortly after Trump agreed with Vladimir Putin of Russia to hold imminent peace talks, the French president championed the need for Europe to “muscle up” on defence and the economy.
He insisted that only Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could negotiate on behalf of his country, warning that allowing “peace that is a capitulation” would be “bad news for everyone”, including the US.
“The only question at this stage is whether President Putin is genuinely, sustainably, and credibly willing to agree to a ceasefire on this basis. After that, it’s up to the Ukrainians to negotiate with Russia,” Macron said, adding: “We all need to stay collectively vigilant.”
The French leader has long argued that Europe should take on more responsibility for its own security, which would only be possible by increasing economic independence and reducing its reliance on the US and China.
He described Trump’s return to the White House as a jolt to push the EU to invest in its own defence, economic and technological revival. It meant abandoning a fiscal and monetary framework, first agreed by the EU in 1992, which he described as “obsolete”.
“This is Europe’s moment to accelerate and execute,” he said, while warning of the risk of failure for the EU. “It has no choice. It is running out of road.”
Whether Macron can rally other European countries to his programme is an open question, especially since he has been badly weakened at home and in Brussels by the political paralysis that followed last year’s snap election. France’s depleted public finances also limit its own ability to make necessary investments in defence and other priorities.
Nonetheless, the French president endorsed the Trump administration’s position that it was Europe’s responsibility to ensure Ukraine’s security, saying it stemmed from a generational and bipartisan shift in America’s foreign policy priorities away from Europe and towards Asia.
US unilateralism did not start with Trump’s return to power, Macron added, noting that he “did not receive a call” in advance from the Biden administration about its “Aukus” nuclear submarine deal with Australia and the UK or about its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“What Trump is saying to Europe is that it is up to you to carry the burden. And I say, it is up to us to take it on,” Macron said.
While many European leaders reacted furiously to Trump’s talks with Putin on ending the war in Ukraine, Macron appeared more sanguine. Having spoken to Trump by phone earlier in the week, Macron said he was “not surprised” by the US president’s move.
He said Trump had created a “window of opportunity” for a negotiated solution, where “everyone has to play their role”.
The US role is to “restart this dialogue” and take the initiative because Trump brought an “element of strategic disruption”. He said it would be up to Zelenskyy “alone” to discuss “territorial and sovereignty issues”. And “it is up to the international community, with a specific role for the Europeans, to discuss security guarantees and, more broadly, the security framework for the entire region. That is where we have a role to play.”
I think this is the only politician in the world who is more popular abroad than in his own country. How he hasn’t been whipped out of office yet is anyone’s guess.
if the german elections are a mess, there will be zero response…or even a total surrender for germany to the USA!
NATO is dead and gone we need a new security architecture in europe. We must come up with our own European Military Union excluding the US
And we will respond , the phenomenal success of Mistral Ai is only the beginning of that response.
And he’s not wrong at all.
We have a butt ton of defense companies in Europe which would be more than happy to see some investments in their businesses.
This is a major challenge for Europe but an awesome opportunity as well: we either do it and become a formidable force or we don’t and we move into oblivion. Because no matter what deal is made on the Ukraine situation, the threat will always be there.
First thing to do if EU leaders are serious is to remove USians and their bases in Europe and treat US as a hostile nation that is threatening to take parts of Denmark and wants to annex Canada, friendly nation to EU.
Without bases in Europe US reach and influence over half of the world is crippled. Let them isolate, it is what they want. Then they will balkanize themselves.
But I think its more likely that EU nations will throw a couple hundred billions to buy US weapons in an attempt to suck up to trump and wait out till next amerikan ruler.
Man all these “nOThInG iS doNE” talk in the comments get on my nerves.
European defense budgets are increasing left and right – of course they won’t jump to nominal US levels overnight. ([source](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/defence-numbers/#expenditure))
Europe also gave more money and military aid to Ukraine than the US. ([source](https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/))
And more and more integration on the EU-level in terms of military is actually happening. ([example 1](https://pesco.europa.eu/#projects) / [example 2](https://www.euronews.com/2024/02/09/poland-signs-military-schengen-deal-alongside-germany-and-netherlands) / [example 3](https://www.rheinmetall.com/en/media/news-watch/news/2024/10/2024-10-15-leonardo-and-rheinmetall-establish-joint-venture))
—
Always screaming “we suck” at everything doesn’t help anyone, nor is it correct.
**Edit:** Added sources to my claims.
> “This model, that is saying you have the Chinese market as an outlet, you have the American umbrella for our security and you have cheap Russian gas to be able to produce, forget all three.”
Brutal by Macron but very much correct
This one is growing balls right know…..But at least has been vocal, can’t say the same thing for other European leaders…
Limit what is shared with the USA. Tulsi Gabbard ffs. Russians everywhere. Can’t trust the USA at all.
Trump’s abject capitulation to Putin makes Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement in Munich look like an act of heroic defiance.
UK left the union and France is the only voice of reason.. Germany is the leader of do nothing party, what a shitshow
Unreliable US to the left, dangerous Russia and China to the right.
There never was a more important time for Europe to bind together. Deregulate, invest in infrastructure, invest in defence.
So… credibility issues.
In the first days… Europe was ging in all direcitons. UK pushed to arm Ukraine and have it seen as a western ally. Germany took and odd “wait and see” approach. Poland beefed up territorial defense. Macron himself went with a “strategic independence” route… trying to lead an independent diplomatic channel tangential to what everyone else was doing.
Then… Europe obsessed about each particular arms decision. 14 armoured vehicles or some other monor supply decision negotiated and dissected politically for weeks every time.
Then, Europe decided it was actually supporting Ukraine. They allocated the money but… literally no one thought to produce anything. They found a way of turning words into euros, but not euros into shells. A star lineup of manufacturing nations, and they can’t produce 1/4 of what they great-grandparents produced in the 50s.
The bar isn’t high. *Iran and North Korea* have been significant players in this war. If a nation like france or Germany can’t match Iran’s manufacturing capabilities…
Willingness, necessity, justification… these are all besides the point. The issue is capacity. Also mindset.
Meanwhile, Russia seems to be running sabateur ops in Europe freely… no fear of reprisal. They don’t do this to the US tbecause the US is *dangerous*. Messing with Europe is just not very dangerous. Europe is not going to crush you.
Fair play to Macron, he is saying what Europe needs to hear. The Germans are pretty absent in European leadership, their flip flopping and fence sitting is not what is needed.
I see a much stronger Europe moving forward
For those wondering why Putin owns him.
Whilst both Epstein and sexploitation come to mind, it is the evidence and depth of his corruption that is now so heavily apparant.
Trump is simply ‘Nixon on steroids’. He was always corrupt and simply gamed the right wing playbook to get to the totalitarian state the US is at.
It will elishly difficult to combat without the US military stepping in to remove him.
Sadly, Europe as we know it looks fcuked, Putin is getting ready to roll.
Trump likely encouraged the South Korean coup attempt.
The EU, Britain, S Korea, Japan and Australasia need to call an emergency meeting and group together.
At the moment, siding with China, if China oblige and join that emergency group, it is the safer long term bet. Whilst they are not democratic I doubt they appreciate instability from the big Idiot dictator.
Giorgia Melonia Trump is squeakily absent.
I know many people dislike him and sometimes also for good reasons, but Macron seems to be one of the few European leaders with a spine.
Macron is hated in France as I have read, but at least he knows the enemy
European leaders must cease their shock and begin implementing decisive actions for the benefit of the free world.
Here is my outsider perspective.
Your continental union is so obsessed with preserving national identity that you’ve placed yourself in a state of perpetual political stagnation. Why on earth is Hungry able to paralyze your foreign policy? Why on earth do external trade agreements require unanimous consent?
You need major reforms.
It’s not too late to decouple from the US and make Europe less dependent on Chinese cheap labor market or whatever. We now know what this has resulted in: to enable companies to become mega and a few individuals billionaires.
Europe should start building factories in Europe again and make the economy grow for the prosperity of all and not for making the rich extremely rich.
Macron is the only one speaking sense these days in Europe
Stop asking for permission and just prepare us for war already. People are kept complacent and apathetic through propaganda pushed on social media, there will never be a bottom-up green light from the paralyzed populace to do anything to save ourselves, so stop waiting for it. There will be no catalyst because they’re not listening until you drag them kicking and screaming back out into reality.
electroshock?
Stab in the back is more accurate.
The damage is real and everyone agrees except Hungary
Ban Tesla swasticars sales and Twitter.
We should send personnel there to guard the rest of Ukraine from US takeover. That is something Putin might agree with. Then we can talk, US should not be involved.
Imagine thinking that negotiating peace is wrong. Imagine.
just to understand, in the last 10 years what have they been doing since more or less we all knew? at this point will they return their salary money since they have been almost useless?
Yes
Comments are closed.