2024-05-04 19:48:31
French President Emmanuel Macron believes that Europe faces a triple existential risk of survival: military, economic and social. He stressed that without action, the European way of life could quickly collapse.
He stated this in an interview with The Economist.
Macron explained that he made his remarks about the possible death of Europe during a speech at the Sorbonne University, based on the words of the French philosopher Paul Valery after the First World War that we now know that civilization can die.
The French President identified three main risks to the existence of Europe: military and geopolitical risk, economic and technological challenges, and a crisis of democracy or social risk. He noted that recent years have exacerbated these risks, which poses a serious threat.
Macron stressed that Europe must be prepared to defend itself, since it can no longer count on the same protection from the United States of America. He also stressed the importance of developing Europe’s economy and technology to compete with other countries.
“This is a triple existential risk for our Europe: a military and security risk; an economic risk to our prosperity; an existential risk of internal incoherence and the breakdown of the functioning of our democracies. So these are three risks that have increased in recent years, no doubt very much.” – he said.
He noted that European societies face threats from the misuse of social media and digital technologies, which weakens democratic institutions.
Macron warned that inaction could lead to everything quickly falling apart and stressed that events could unfold faster than we think, which could have catastrophic consequences.
“This could happen much faster than we think and could lead to a more brutal death than we imagine,” the French president added.
Earlier, Cursor reported that Macron said under what conditions he would transfer French troops to Ukraine.