From Athens, Emmanuel Macron indirectly responded to Pentagon chief’s criticisms.
- According to the President, American, Russian, and Chinese presidents are “fiercely opposed to Europeans.”
- “This moment could be the European moment,” he estimated.
In a press conference on Friday, Secretary of State Pete Hegseth emphasized that Europeans have benefited from American protection “for decades.” He then criticized their inaction in unlocking the Strait of Hormuz, currently under Iranian and American blockade, nearly two months after the start of the Middle East war: “[Europe] would do better to speak less, organize fewer lavish conferences, and get on a boat.”
From Athens, Greece, where he arrived for a two-day visit to strengthen French-Greek defense and security cooperation, Macron indirectly responded to these criticisms. “We must not underestimate the current moment. We have an American president, a Russian president, and a Chinese president who are fiercely opposed to Europeans,” declared the President during a conference at the Roman Agora with the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
“If we don’t believe in ourselves…”
“This is the right time for a resurgence on our part,” estimated Emmanuel Macron, reaffirming, as he has been doing since the beginning of the year, that the European Union is, by contrast, “reliable” and “predictable,” even though it must now “become a real geopolitical power.” “If we don’t believe in ourselves, we have no chance that others will find us formidable,” he continued.
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If it seemed that Emmanuel Macron put Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping in the same category of opponents to the Old Continent, he also emphasized that the US President was still an “ally,” even if not always “reliable” or “predictable.”
