Don't overly rely on the United States! Macron urges Europe to develop its own air defense system airspace | France | United States
According to the Associated Press, on June 19th local time, French President Macron called on European countries to seek more independence in airspace defense, rather than overly relying on the United States, at the Paris Bourche International Aviation and Space Exhibition held in France.
According to reports, in the closing speech of a meeting that day, Macron presented the reasons for Europeans to develop their own air defense strategies. This meeting discussed topics related to anti drone warfare, ballistic missile defense, and nuclear weapon deterrence.
"We need to know what the threat situation is... what can Europeans produce? What do we need to buy?" Macron said, warning not to immediately purchase "things on the shelves.
Macron called on European defense equipment manufacturers to establish independent military systems and transfer production to the European continent. In addition, he also called for the improvement of European standards.
"Why do we still need to purchase American products frequently? Because the standardization level in the United States is much higher than ours, and they also have federal agencies providing significant subsidies to their manufacturers," Macron said.
According to reports, the conference gathered defense ministers and other representatives from 20 European countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden, as well as Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Representatives from NATO and the European Union also attended the meeting.
According to reports, France has been publicly criticizing Germany's "European Sky Shield Initiative", which the French government believes fails to fully safeguard European sovereignty as it is expected to be primarily based on the industries of the United States and Israel.