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France's Macron Calls for Creating a 'European Army'
French President Emmanuel Macron called for the creation of a "true European army," issuing a sharp critique of trans-Atlantic security ties days before U.S. President Trump is due to visit France.
Europe's security ties with the U.S., which have been a bedrock of the continent's stability for decades, have come under strain as Mr. Trump has demanded more military spending from European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and questioned the alliance's benefits for the U.S. Such tensions have led Mr. Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to publicly question whether the continent can still rely on the U.S. to come to Europe's defense.
Mr. Macron went a step further by grouping the U.S. among foreign powers he considers a potential threat to the continent. "We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America," Mr. Macron said on French radio.
Mr. Macron made the remarks as part of a weeklong tour of World War I battlefields ahead of the centenary of the Nov. 11 Armistice, when the French leader is due to host Mr. Trump, Vladimir Putin of Russia and many other heads of state.
Also at Newsweek.
Emmanuel Macron: Six held in 'attack' plot against French president
Six people have been arrested in France on suspicion of planning to carry out a "violent" attack on President Emmanuel Macron, officials say. The individuals, reported to be five men and a woman, were picked up by the French security services in Brittany, north-east and south-east France.
An investigation is now taking place into a "criminal terrorist association", a judicial source said. Details of the suspects and the alleged plot have not yet been released.
(Score: 2) by Lester on Thursday November 08 2018, @11:26AM
NATO was a cold war agreement that satisfied both parts. Europe wanted the security of a powerful ally against an aggressive neighbor. USA wanted proxy allies that allow it to deploy troops near its enemy and far from USA soil, move the potential battle field to the gates of enemy and far from homeland. NATO satisfied both agendas. But after the cold war, things changed. European allies wasn't so afraid of its neighbor, it didn't look that aggressive, so they wanted to focus on economy and social development, and international goal was to get bigger share of world economy and not waste in military. On the other hand, USA had defeated its enemy, now it wanted to assure that it was the only superpower in economy and military. In economy, EU is a rival, not an ally, in military, USA wanted to keep military supremacy, while EU wasn't very interested in the military (there is no contest against USA). So the agendas diverged.
There was still some courtesy and some public image that they shared interests, they are democracies, you know. But USA was pushing its agenda against its reluctant allies. USA still wants to keep NATO's deployed bases around the world, and EU still wants a strongman behind. The problem is that USA is each day less interested in European bases and more uncomfortable with allies hindering its agenda. On the other hand, EU begins to think that the bodyguard is politically too expensive and it is more interested in its own agenda than in being its bodyguard. The final straw is Trump "America First" attitude. That looks like EU can't relay on its bodyguard anymore and are looking for an alternative, not as strong as the current bodyguard, but good enough.