French President Emmanuel Macron said this Thursday that Europe is “mortal” and that it “can die” or be “relegated”, during a speech that was seen as his entry into the campaign for the European elections.
“We must be clear today about the fact that our Europe is mortal, it can die,” said Macron.
And he continued: “It just depends on our choices, but these choices have to be made now”, because “in the next decade, (…) there is a huge risk of being weakened or even relegated”.
At a time when his party appears to be fighting against the far-right Rassemblement National in the polls, Macron proposed the creation of a “strategic concept for a credible European defense” in the face of external threats, particularly from Russia.
Calling for a “European cybersecurity and cyber defense capability”, he defended “European preference in the purchase of military equipment” and supported the idea of a European loan to finance this defense effort.
The French head of state also called on the European Union to “regain control of its borders” and “take responsibility for them”, a theme that strongly appeals to right-wing voters.
He also proposed “a political structure” at European level that would allow decisions to be taken on “immigration, the fight against organized crime, terrorism, drug trafficking and cybercrime”.
According to an Opinionway poll on the June 9 European elections, published last Friday, the presidential majority list, with 19%, remains far behind the far-right Rassemblement National list (29%), but maintains a clear advantage over that of the socialists (12%).
