French President Emmanuel Macron has urged the European Union to make bold decisions to defend Ukraine, preventing any US decision to withhold or reduce its military support.
Macron arrived in Sweden on Tuesday for a two-day state visit. He is scheduled to meet with the Scandinavian monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf, and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Macron Urges EU to Defend Ukraine
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - JANUARY 30: France's president Emmanuel Macron and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (not pictured) give a press statement at Stockholm Palace on January 30, 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden. The French president and his wife are making a two day visit to Stockholm and Sweden, at the invitation of the King of Sweden.
Macron said in a speech in Sweden, which aspires to be the next country to join NATO that the future security architecture of Europe, including arms control agreements covering European territory, could no longer be settled simply by the US and Russia, and Europe must have the authority to determine its future.
His speech was intended to warn Europe that it needed to step up its defense efforts. He noted that it had to prepare for the possibility that either Biden would not be able to get Congress to approve his budget for military aid to Ukraine or that isolationist Donald Trump would defeat him later in the year in a presidential election.
The president also argued that the US could no longer control future relations with Moscow through NATO if Europe intervened and helped to prevent a Russian victory.
While speaking with Kristersson at the Swedish Defence Academy, Macron declared, "This is a decisive and testing moment for Europe. We must be ready to act to defend and support Ukraine whatever it takes and whatever America decides."
He continued that Europe had been lucky to have America as a partner, but they had to be lucid. He noted that Ukraine is part of the European continent, and whatever America decides, they have to make the right and bold decisions to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
Furthermore, he insisted that Europe must make Russia lose for years to come, at whatever cost. If Europe wins, it will not have a functional security architecture, which would affect NATO's eastern flank, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
Macron said that the real cost to them of a Russian victory in the short and long run is too high for all of them. He argued that for Ukraine to be in a position to negotiate a lasting peace, Europe would need to step up its defense production effort.
Read Also: Philippines' Marcos Hoping for Maritime Cooperation With Vietnam During State Visit
Macron Supports Europe's Military Purchases
Macron commended Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for her demand early in December for the EU to develop new ways of raising funds to finance Europe's military purchases in response to Russia's invasion.
He claimed that he wanted to praise their colleague Kaja Kallas for her bold decision for their defense industry strategy to have some grant approach to raising more funds to finance support.
EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday at the European Council to discuss aid to Ukraine as the conflict approaches its second anniversary.
Related Article: Macron Visits Stockholm to Tackle Sweden's NATO Membership
