European Interest

Macron calls for new Franco-German alliance

Flickr/Mike Bloomberg/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Emmanuel Macron said Europe must not “become a plaything of great powers... and must not accept a subordinate role in world politics”.

To prepare Europe for future challenges, French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a new Franco-German alliance. During a visit to Germany to mark the country’s annual war remembrance day on November 18, Macron said it was up to France and Germany to build a modern, efficient, democratic Europe fit for the future.

Addressing German lawmakers in the Bundestag, Macron said that Germany and France had overcome 200 years of “merciless wars” to make a “lasting peace” and “cement a bedrock of cooperation in all fields”.

As reported by Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international broadcaster, acknowledging that Europe faces multiple challenges from climate change to migration, the French leader said only the two neighbours’ partnership, as part of a unified, more sovereign Europe, could help the world avoid sliding into chaos.

“Europe, and within it the Franco-German alliance, have the obligation… to guide it on the road to peace,” he added.

Macron also said Europe must not “become a plaything of great powers… and must not accept a subordinate role in world politics”.

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