Macron: Europe is not immortal

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Europe to face the challenges of a changed world, warning that "our Europe today is not immortal and it can die", reported AFP.
"She can die and it depends only on our choices," Macron said in a keynote speech, warning that Europe "is not armed against the risks we face" in a world where "the rules of the game have changed." .
"Over the next decade, the risk of (Europe) being weakened or even rejected is enormous," he said during the speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
He urged Europe to break out of the "strategic minority" that has made it overly dependent on Russia for energy and the United States for security.
He described Russia's behavior after its invasion of Ukraine as "boundless" and said it was no longer clear where Moscow's "borders" were.
He stated that the mandatory "condition" for European security is "that Russia does not win the war of aggression in Ukraine".
"We have to build this strategic concept of a reliable European defense for ourselves," Macron said, adding that Europe cannot be a "vassal" of the United States.
He said that in the coming months he will ask for proposals from European partners and added that Europe also needs its own capacity in the field of cyber defense and cyber security.
Macron has said European suppliers should be given preference when buying military equipment, and has backed the idea of a European loan to finance the effort. /BGNES