French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the establishment of a “real European army,” claiming that Europe has been the chief victim of a recent US decision to scrap a major nuclear arms pact with Russia.
“We will not be able to protect Europeans if we don’t decide to have a real European army,” Macron said in an interview with Europe 1 radio on Monday.
He said Europe had to defend itself in a “more sovereign way” and without depending “only on the United States.”
Macron’s remarks came after US President Donald Trump confirmed late last month that his administration planned to abandon the landmark Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia over claims that Moscow has violated the Cold War-era pact, further vowing American development of such armaments.
The INF, which was signed in 1986 between then-US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, allowed the US to counter…