French President calls on Europe to reduce dependence on US air defense system

In a speech on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show, which brought together defense ministers and other representatives from 20 European countries, French President Emmanuel Macron made the case for European countries to develop their own air defense strategies, a long-divisive issue that has become increasingly urgent due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

At the conference, the ministers discussed a wide range of defense issues, including negotiations on anti-drone air defense systems, ballistic missiles, and nuclear deterrence.

Mr Macron warned Europe against relying too much on weapons from outside the continent and advised against buying what is available: “First of all, we need to identify what the threat situation is. Then we need to know what Europe can produce. And then the question is what do we need to buy?”

French President calls on Europe to reduce dependence on US air defense system - 1 — French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at the closing ceremony of the Paris Air Show. (Photo: AP)

President Macron expressed his desire to promote local exports of weapons and equipment, build independent military systems, reorganize defense production in Europe, and strengthen European defense standards. At the same time, he also noted that the conflict in Ukraine has shown the importance and effectiveness of air defense systems.

“Why do we still have to buy from America so often? It is because the Americans have done a stronger standardization and the Americans themselves have federal agencies that provide greater subsidies to their manufacturers,” he said.

Among the countries taking part in the meeting were Germany, Britain and Sweden, as well as Ukraine's neighbours Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Representatives of NATO and the European Union also attended.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show - the world's largest event focusing on the aviation and space industry, which opened on June 19.

France has previously been openly critical of German-led plans to improve Europe's air defense capabilities (the European Sky Shield project), which was launched late last year and will be integrated into NATO's air and missile defense systems. The project involves 17 European countries, including Britain but not France.

The French government believes that the project does not adequately protect European sovereignty because it relies heavily on US and Israeli industry. Accordingly, the German-led plan is expected to use Israel's Arrow 3 system and build on the existing US Patriot missile capabilities.

On the same day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also attended a press conference in Berlin with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Mr. Scholz said: "With the European Sky Shield Initiative, we are bringing together European countries to jointly strengthen their defense capabilities against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones."

Chancellor Scholz did not mention Paris's opposition to the initiative.

Defense has long been a point of contention between Germany and France, with Paris criticizing Berlin for years for not doing enough in this area. However, when the conflict in Ukraine broke out in February 2022, Germany announced a sharp increase in military spending to provide Kiev with weapons and battle tanks.

Also at the meeting in Paris, Mr. Macron said that the Mamba anti-missile system developed by France and Italy is now deployed and operational in Ukraine to protect military forces and critical infrastructure. Mamba is also NATO's integrated air and missile defense system. The supply of this system to Kiev was announced by Paris and Rome in February.

With the help of Western weapons and increasingly sophisticated combat capabilities, Ukraine's air defense systems have made great strides since the beginning of the conflict, preserving forces and infrastructure and preventing Russia from gaining air superiority.

Phuong Thao (Source: AP)

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