Macron warns Europe faces major geopolitical and economic challenges

Europe is facing serious geopolitical and economic challenges, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with Le Monde and other European media outlets, Report informs.

Macron stated that Europe is confronting an unprecedented test in a world increasingly marked by chaos and uncertainty.

"Today, Europe is facing an enormous challenge in a world engulfed in chaos. The United States, which was believed would always ensure Europe's security, is now calling that into question, while Russia no longer supplies us with cheap energy resources as it did in the past. At the same time, China is shifting from being a key export market for Europe to becoming an increasingly tough competitor," he said.

Macron noted that China's trade surplus with the rest of the world has reached $1 trillion, with one third accounted for by the United States and another third by Europe. He added that Washington has also imposed customs duties on European goods.

"In essence, we are experiencing a double crisis: trade pressure from China and high instability from the United States," the French leader said.

He added that Europe is facing three major strategic "battles": in security and defense, in green transition technologies, and in the development of artificial intelligence and quantum technologies.

"In all these areas, we are investing significantly less than China and the United States. If the EU does not take action within the next three to five years, it risks losing ground in these sectors. And to ensure that investments preserve the integrity of the internal market and do not deepen fragmentation, they cannot be left to individual countries; they must be joint, pan-European investments," Macron stated.