France and Germany must advocate for a strong Europe, President Emmanuel Macron and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed on Wednesday at a meeting in Paris to mark the 62nd anniversary of the signing of the Elysian Treaty. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
The meeting took place in the context of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. Trump, who is threatening to impose high tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, on Tuesday also announced tariffs against the European Union, which he says treats the US “very, very badly”.
Scholz at a joint press conference with Macronom in the Elysée Palace, he reminded that the EU and the USA are linked by a long history of friendship and partnership, therefore it will be possible to build relations with Trump on a solid foundation. But also he stated that, as it turns out, the new president of the USA will pose a challenge for Europe.
“Europe will not hide, but will be a constructive and assertive partner. This will be the basis of good cooperation with the new American president,” he declared Scholz with the fact that the EU member states plan to examine in detail the political steps that Trump managed to make in the past two days in the White House.
Macron, who has been calling for a more self-sufficient Europe for a long timeaccording to the station BFMTV he called for strengthening the EU’s competitiveness, prosperity and security, as well as Europe’s “democracies and economic and social model”. He also reiterated his determination to invest more in European defense. “We need joint defense capabilities, which we lack,” he emphasized.
“With the new administration in the United States, it is more than ever necessary for Europeans and our two countries to play their part in consolidating a united, strong and sovereign Europe,” he added Macron. The meeting in Paris was held on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of the Elysian Treaty signed in 1963, which marked the reconciliation of France and Germany after the Second World War.
