"We will not protect Europeans if we do not decide to have a real European army against Russia," said Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday in an interview broadcast on Europe 1 including the deadline of the European elections in May 2019.
Emmanuel Macron advocated on Tuesday the creation of a "real European army" not to depend solely on the United States face a "threatening" Russia on the borders of the Union.
In Brussels, the European Commission has judged for its part that a European army would probably be established one day.
In an interview on Europe 1, the French president said that "on defense, detached work, European universities, we have already made much progress" since his speech at La Sorbonne in September 2017. "I now wish that 'we go further'.
Several heads of state and experts reject the idea of a common army
"We will not protect Europeans if we do not decide to have a real European army against Russia, which is on our borders and has shown that it can be threatening," he continued. "We must have a Europe that defends itself more alone, without depending only on the United States, and in a more sovereign way. "
European heads of state and government have decided in recent months to significantly increase their cooperation in defense, but the idea of a "European army" is rejected by many of them and most experts believe that domain falls largely within the States themselves.
The spokesperson of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, questioned about the French President's remarks, recalled that the Commission had "presented numerous initiatives and proposals with a view to starting to gradually establish a (European) identity more assertive in the field of defense, in these difficult times . "