While other European leaders have tried to keep a measured tone to prevent the trans-Atlantic dispute from escalating, Macron came out swinging.
France and Europe will not “passively accept the law of the strongest,” Macron said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, adding that doing otherwise would lead to their “vassalisation”.
Instead, he said, Europe will continue to stand up for territorial sovereignty and the rule of law, despite what he called a shift towards a world without rules. That could include the European Union (EU) responding with its own steep trade sanctions.
“We do prefer respect to bullies,” Macron said, adding that, “ we do prefer rule of law to brutality.”
Macron wore aviator sunglasses during his speech, which the Elysee Palace said was to protect his eyes because of a burst blood vessel.
He delivered the speech after Trump threatened huge tariffs against French wine and champagne and posted private messages from Macron, an unusual breach of diplomatic discretion.
Trump had already vowed on Saturday to implement a wave of increasing tariffs from February 1 on several European allies, including France, until the US is allowed to acquire Greenland, a step major EU states decried as blackmail.
Washington’s “endless accumulation” of new tariffs is “fundamentally unacceptable,” Macron said in Davos, “even more so when they are used as leverage against territorial sovereignty”.
EU leaders decided over the weekend to convene in Brussels on Thursday evening for an emergency summit on Greenland.
–SABC–
