Leaders of France and Greece say the EU’s defense splurge is no alternative to the NATO alliance
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — France’s president said Saturday that the European Union’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its own defense capabilities are not aimed at creating an alternative to the NATO alliance but are aimed at responding to a long-standing U.S. call for the continent to take responsibility for its own security.
Emmanuel Macron said Europe should not act in a way that would weaken NATO, which connects the continent to its American ally. Instead, Europeans are now stepping in to meet Washington’s “sometimes nice, sometimes less nice” demand over the past decade to take care of their own security.
In his statement after his meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Macron said, “The lesson we need to learn is this; let’s not be dependent anymore.” We Europeans must strengthen this European leg of NATO, we must strengthen this defense Europe; “Not against anyone, not as an alternative to anything.”
Mitsotakis echoed the French president, saying the United States should be pleased that the EU is taking its self-sufficiency seriously and investing more in its own defense, calling America’s demand for more spending “justified.”
After going to Cyprus for an unofficial visit European Union leaders summitMacron visited the Greek capital to renew the 2021 defense partnership between France and Greece, which includes a clause on mutual assistance in case of armed attack on either.
“This clause of mutual assurance and assistance is inviolable and not open to discussion between us,” Macron said. “So there are no questions, no doubts to be entertained – and all our potential or actual enemies need to be very clear on this.”
The 3 billion euro deal included the purchase of 24 Rafale fighter jets and four state-of-the-art frigates, including the Kimon, which Macron and Mitsotakis visited on Saturday.
Greece, which has long had troubled relations with its eastern neighbor Türkiye, is overhauling its military capabilities and the bulk of its defense supplies come from France. These include the French MICA air missile system, which can be used by aircraft, land forces and warships.
Both leaders praised the agreement as an example for other EU partners to follow, improving the competitiveness of the 27-member bloc. Mitsotakis encouraged EU leaders to abandon the “national selfishness” that has drawn a protective curtain over their domestic industries and move forward with more mergers to create economies of scale.
Macron underlined the need for European industry to innovate and win back consumers with better, more desirable products that will fund the EU’s defense objectives.
“We are all Europeans – the French-Greek relationship is a prime example – we need to buy more European products, produce more European goods and innovate more within Europe,” he said.
Both leaders referred to Article 42.7. The EU’s own mutual defense clause, He said what Macron said was not “just empty words”. The French president noted the rush of both countries to help EU member Cyprus by sending warships in early March after the Shahed drone attacked a British base in the island country during the Iran war.
The French president warned against causing panic with talk of fuel shortages. Closing the Strait of Hormuz Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passes through here. He said the fuel supply was “under control” and did not foresee any shortages.
He said Europe was focused on helping reopen the Strait of Hormuz, although he acknowledged it would take some time for the situation to return to normal.
Mitsotakis said Greece, as a global maritime power, wants any diplomatic solution that includes a “non-negotiable” clause stipulating full and unhindered freedom of navigation in the strait, without demanding fees from ships, as was the case before the start of the Iran war.
