“With his statement Macron represents the position of some EU politicians but not of the EU as whole.”
Malwina Talik, Research Associate at the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe told this to Ednews while commenting on Macron's remarks that Europe must reduce its dependency on the United States and avoid getting dragged into a confrontation between China and the US over Taiwan.
“The EU is not on the same page regarding its approach towards the US.Some countries like Poland or the Baltic states are proponents of the very close Euro-Atlantic alliance. With his statement Macron represents the position of some EU politicians but not of the EU as whole. He believes that the EU should shape its foreign policy in certain world corners independently of the US stance and follow its own geopolitical interests. However, suggesting that the EU should distance itself from tensions between China and the US over Taiwan, a democratic state that can face a military threat from a large non-democratic actor, is a contradiction in terms. It follows purely economic principles but is in stark contrast with EU’s own democratic values and internationally agreed right to territorial integrity”, M. Talik said.
“Unsurprisingly it has not been taken well, the timing could not be worse either. It has been commented that such statements undermine the EU-US cooperation especially with regard to Ukraine. The US support in this war is crucial not only to Ukraine but also the EU and its interests. The argumentation behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine bears numerous similarities to the threats from Beijing towards Taipei. But yet again, President Macron is only one of European leaders and his sentiment is not shared across the EU. It has already caused backlash on both sides of the Atlantic”, she added.
According to her, both the US and China are key economic partners to the EU so the bilateral policy will undoubtedly continue regardless of the relations between the two:
“However, should a military conflict break out, the EU will take sides and it will not be President Macron who will be deciding on what path to take.”
Ulviyya Shahin
