The contours of a new Europe are beginning to emerge. A Franco-German reset is under way, at least symbolically
For France, the shift is less visible, but no less profound. It is less about the country’s economic model, which is not as export-dependent as Germany’s. Nor, thanks to nuclear power, was it as reliant on Russian gas. Rather, France is rethinking European borders, alliances and security. Traditionally unenthusiastic about expanding the, France used to treat central and eastern European countries as juniors.
Such statements have helped reassure those who worried that Mr Macron’s idea of a wider European Political Community was also a ploy to stallon June 1st in Moldova—just 20km from the Ukrainian border. With Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, present, the summit was a show of unity for his war-battered country as well as a boost for the host, Moldova. France now seesborders extending farther to the east.
The second French shift concerns security. Mr Macron wants Europe to do more to defend itself and to rely less on America, especially ahead of elections there in 2024. Fellow Europeans still fear that such talk will undermine America’s commitment to European security. The continent’s new geopolitics, however, seem to be making France more hawkish. In Bratislava Mr Macron called for Ukraine to be given a “path tomembership” at the alliance’s summit in Vilnius in July.
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