Macron calls for a 'true European army' for defense against China, Russia, and America


Europe should develop a continental army for defense against world powers, French President Emmanuel Macron argued in a radio interview Tuesday. "We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia, and even the United States of America," he said.
"When I see President Trump announcing that he's quitting a major disarmament treaty which was formed after the 1980s Euro-missile crisis that hit Europe, who is the main victim? Europe and its security," Macron continued, referring to Trump's stated plan to exit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a Reagan-era arms control agreement with Russia (originally the Soviet Union) that eliminated thousands of short- and intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
"I want to build a real security dialogue with Russia, which is a country I respect — a European country — but we must have a Europe that can defend itself on its own without relying only on the United States," he added. "We will not protect the Europeans unless we decide to have a true European army."
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
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