French President Emmanuel Macron urged Europe to “wake up” and spend more on defense, in a speech that echoed President Donald Trump's previous warning that U.S. taxpayer dependence on NATO was no longer acceptable. I appealed to them to do so.
AP report Macron said Trump's return to the White House was “an opportunity to sound a strategic wake-up call for Europe” and urged Europe to accept responsibility for its own security.
The French leader's call was addressed to troops in the Army's Digital and Cyber Support Command, based in western France, in his New Year's address on Monday.
“What would we do in Europe tomorrow if our ally the United States withdrew its warships from the Mediterranean? What if they sent fighter jets from the Atlantic to the Pacific?” he asked.
President Trump has criticized the cost to American taxpayers of the war in Ukraine through a large-scale military aid package, and has made it clear that he wants to shift more of the financial burden to Europe.
As Breitbart News reported, he also called on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries to increase defense spending to 5% of gross economic product.
This is a level that no other NATO member has reached, not even our nearest neighbor Poland, which is expected to spend more than 4% in 2024 and approach 5% this year.
The newly returned president has vowed to quickly end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and expressed hope that peace talks can be reached within six months.
Meanwhile, France and Europe need to adapt to evolving threats and changing interests, Macron said.
“Who would have imagined a year ago that Greenland would be at the center of political and strategic discussions? That's it.”
