Europe is naive about US, says Emmanuel Macron

The French president makes his first public response to the loss of the $90bn submarine deal with Australia.

Emmanuel Macron, right, greets Kyriakos Mitsotakis at The Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron urged European allies on Tuesday to stop being naive about the US and to build up the continent’s own military defences.

Mr Macron’s remarks as he presented a French defence deal with Greece were his first public response to the affront that France suffered two weeks ago when Australia and the US ­unveiled a secretly negotiated ­defence arrangement, with British involvement, that killed a French pact with Australia.

After losing a $90bn Australian contract for French submarines, Mr Macron withdrew ambassadors from Canberra and Washington in protest.

“The Europeans must stop being naive. When we are under pressure from powers which at times harden (their stance), we need to react and show that we have the power and capacity to defend ourselves. Not escalating things, but protecting ourselves,” Mr Macron told a news conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“This is not an alternative to the US alliance. It is not a substitute, but it is to take responsibility for the European pillar within NATO and draw the conclusions that we are asked to take care of our own protection.”

France’s humiliation over the so-called AUKUS pact has spurred Mr Macron to push harder for France’s longstanding goal of “strategic autonomy” for the EU.

While he has received some support from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Social Democrats, who narrowly won Sunday’s German election, northern and eastern EU states show no ­desire for the EU to loosen its bond to the US-dominated NATO ­alliance and spend more on defence.

The military and defence pact with Greece reflects a wish to project a French presence in the eastern Mediterranean to curb Turkish ambitions and influence events in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East. Greece will spend about $6.45bn on three frigates from Naval Group, the French state-controlled shipbuilding firm that was producing the Australian submarines.

Greece has also bought 18 French Rafale fighter jets and plans to buy another six to help modernise its armed forces.

The Times