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Emmanuel Macron told the Munich Security Conference on Friday that Europe will have to redesign its security architecture on its own terms as it faces an aggressive Russia.
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The French president said the current security framework won’t hold in the future and Europeans must set out new parameters in their own terms. Macron said that it may include a more “holistic” approach to nuclear deterrence among European allies.
Macron said plans for “a day after” implying a future coexistence with Russia must be drafted by Europeans independently due to their geographical reality and a “bloated” Russian army on what the French leader described as a belligerent “sugar high.”
“We have to be the ones to negotiate this new architecture of security for Europe for the day after because our geography will not change,” he said.
“We will live with Russia in the same place, and the Europeans at the same place, and I don’t want this negotiation to be organised by someone else,” he said in an apparent reference to the United States and their direct talks with Moscow.
Macron told the gathering in Munich, which focuses on security and brings together world leaders, future parameters of security may include a new, more holistic nuclear deterrence among European allies. Until now, deterrence has been a strictly national domain and a highly delicate issue because of its implications on sovereignty.
The French leader teased a “new strategic dialogue” on nuclear arms.
“We have engaged a strategic dialogue with Chancelor Merz and (other) European leaders in order to see how we can articulate our national doctrine” with special cooperation and common security interests in some key countries, he said.
“This dialogue is important because it’s a way to articulate nuclear deterrence in a holistic approach of defence and security. This is a way to create convergence in our strategic approach between Germany and France,” he added.
Earlier, Merz had told the conference he had engaged in “confidential talks” on European nuclear deterrence.
“We Germans are adhering to our legal obligations. We consider this strictly within the context of our nuclear sharing within NATO and we will not allow zones of differing security to emerge in Europe,” Merz said.
The comments are significant as it shows Europeans are beginning to think of a future security that relies on their own capabilities, becoming less dependent on the US umbrella for the first time since the end of the Cold War.
The French president said he would deliver more details in the coming weeks.
‘Europe is vilified, but it should be proud’
Macron sought to rally support for a stronger and proud Europe, which often lacks self-confidence despite its many strengths, according to the French President, who suggested Europeans are being vilified through false claims amplified on social media.
“We need a much more positive mindset. There has been a tendency in this place and beyond to overlook Europe and sometimes to criticise it outright,” Macron said.
“Caricatures have been made, Europe has been vilified as an aging, slow, fragmented construct sidelined by history. As an overregulated economy that shuts innovation, as a society preyed by migration that would corruption its precious traditions.
“And most curiously yet, in some quarters, as a repressive continent,” he added.
In his remarks, Macron appeared to push back at the US administration which urged Europe to reverse course or face “civilisational erasure” citing excessive regulation, illegal migration and repressive social media policies curtailing free speech.
“Everyone should take a cue from us, instead of trying to divide us,” he said.
