The French president Emmanuel Macron criticized US President Donald Trump’s “aggressive” isolationism, calling on EU to defend itself against US extraterritorial sanctions. “Multilateralism is going through a major crisis which collides with all our diplomatic activities, above all because of US policy,” he told a gathering of French ambassadors on Monday. According to Reuters, Macron urged […]
The French president Emmanuel Macron criticized US President Donald Trump’s “aggressive” isolationism, calling on EU to defend itself against US extraterritorial sanctions.
“Multilateralism is going through a major crisis which collides with all our diplomatic activities, above all because of US policy,” he told a gathering of French ambassadors on Monday.
According to Reuters, Macron urged Europe to exert itself as “a trade and economic power”, which defends its strategic interests and financial independence and is able to fend off the extraterritorial reach of US sanctions.
“Europe can no longer rely entirely on the United States for its security,” said Macron, calling for an urgent new European security policy in the face of rising nationalism and extremism.
Macron also vowed to put forward new proposals in the coming months for the EU to boost defense cooperation, as well as talks with Russia on their security relationship, the Guardian reported.
The French president further stressed the need for European countries to work together to come up with alternatives to hardline isolationist politics adopted by Trump, including his pulling out of a global climate pact, imposing extraterritorial sanctions on Iran and imposing tariffs on EU steel and aluminum.
