The head of state illustrated his point by mentioning several international issues: “We saw it with the Greenland case, with what is happening today in Iran, with a little bit of what is happening in Ukraine,” he added in response to a student’s question about the role of youth in promoting peace. “They are still there, it’s great, they are allies but Europe was built on the idea that the United States would protect us for eternity. For your generation, I don’t think that will be true anymore,” emphasized Emmanuel Macron.
The challenge of strategic autonomy
The French president emphasized the need for strategic autonomy: “If tomorrow we are no longer able to protect ourselves for our defense, if all our technological solutions are in the hands of others, we can say what we want, we will no longer have a choice.” He also advised the young generation to “always seek to understand others” and to have “a taste for the future,” recalling that “peace is not declared one fine morning.”
