French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that Europe must distance itself from the United States as relations between America and its allies continue to deteriorate under the regime of Democrat President Joe Biden.
The Washington Post reported:
Macron urged Europeans to ‘come out of their naivete’ on the world stage and assert their independence from the United States, sending one of the strongest signals to date that the diplomatic crisis prompted by a disrupted submarine deal could have long-lasting repercussions on transatlantic relations.
“The Europeans must stop being naive. When we are under pressure from powers, which at times harden (their stance), we need to react and show that we have the power and capacity to defend ourselves. Not escalating things, but protecting ourselves,” Macron told a news conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “This isn’t an alternative to the United States alliance. It’s not a substitution, but to take responsibility of the European pillar within NATO and draw the conclusions that we are asked to take care of our own protection.”
“For a bit over 10 years now, the United States has been very focused on itself and has strategic interests that are being reoriented towards China and the Pacific,” Macron said. “It’s in their right to do so, … [but] we would be naive, or rather we would make a terrible mistake, to not want to draw the consequences.”
The press conference came after Greece agreed to buy three frigates from France, a deal worth billions of euros, which follows recent events where France was shafted by the Biden administration over its recent submarine deal with Australia. Greece had already ordered earlier roughly two dozen fighter jets from France.
Australia, immediately before signing the deal with the U.S. and the U.K, canceled a $66 billion agreement to purchase French-built submarines, which were not nuclear powered.
The event sparked a serious international incident as Macron ordered Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, to withdraw France’s ambassador to the U.S. and to cancel a gala that it had planned with the U.S.
The New York Times reported that this is “the first time in the history of the long alliance between France and the United States, dating back to 1778, that a French ambassador has been recalled to Paris in this way for consultations.”
“At the request of President Macron, I have decided to immediately recall our ambassadors to the United States and Australia to Paris for consultations,” Le Drian said in a statement. “This extraordinary decision reflects the exceptional seriousness of the announcements made on September 15 by Australia and the United States.”
The statement added, “The abandonment of the ocean-class submarine project that Australia and France had been working on since 2016 and the announcement of a new partnership with the United States aimed at studying the possibility of future cooperation on nuclear-powered submarines constitute unacceptable behavior among allies and partners; their consequences affect the very concept we have of our alliances, our partnerships, and the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe.”