President Emmanuel Macron: “Being America’s ally does not mean being a vassal”
China’s President Xi Jinping (R) and French President Emmanuel Macron (L) taste wine as they visit France’s pavilion during the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on November 5.
Returning to Europe after his visit to Beijing, Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed the position he expressed when leaving China: the EU must follow its own path, that of its interests. “Being America’s ally does not mean being a vassal,” the French president said in a press conference in Amsterdam. Macron: “We have the right to think for ourselves.” Convinced that he is right about the EU’s position of strategic autonomy that he promotes, Emmanuel Macron argued for his view that one’s partnership “does not mean being a vassal”. “Being an ally does not mean being a vassal; it does not mean that we do not have the right to think for ourselves,” explained the Elysee leader. On the occasion of the visit to China, the French president declared that the European Union must not strictly follow Washington’s policies: “The worst thing would be for us, the Europeans, to become imitators, to adapt to the American rhythm, or to the exaggerated reactions of China” .
During his visit to the Netherlands, Emmanuel Macron continued to insist on the idea of strengthening the sovereignty of the European Union. “We have to configure our direction by choosing the interlocutors. We must try to be decisive rather than have rules imposed on us. In the pandemic, I understood that we were dependent on a large number of drugs and many other things. We must reduce this dependence in order to strengthen our identity and sovereignty”, thundered the president of France. Macron gave a powerful speech at the Nexus Institute in The Hague, asking for actions to protect the interests of the European Union in its relationship with the United States, against the background of the disputes generated by the subsidies applied to American companies by the White House. “And we have the right to show protectionism in certain critical sectors. We have to protect our interests. If we believe that our strategic interests are at risk of being compromised, we must take action,” Macron insisted. If Beijing welcomed Emmanuel Macron’s statements, the “allies” went on alert. The Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, reaffirmed that the relationship with the United States remains the “absolute basis” of Europe’s security, implying that he rejects the direction of the EU’s “strategic autonomy” evoked by France. And German leaders from the Christian Democratic Union criticized Paris’ statements. “Macron seems to have abandoned good feelings,” said politician Norbert Röttgen, according to Le Figaro.
By Sara Colin
