According to Europe correspondent Stefan de Vries, the meaning of that sovereignty could be discovered between nose and lips: Europe must become less dependent on countries like China and the United States. “He insisted that Europe should develop its own technology, extract its own raw materials and that our defense should be able to stand on its own two feet,” said De Vries.
He points out that Macron’s plan has been around for several years and that the French president has since been trying to sell it to various European member states. “And it seems that of all the member states, the Netherlands is going the furthest with France to achieve that independence.”
European disintegration
But where Macron calls for greater European integration, De Vries thinks the French president has indeed contributed to European disintegration in recent months. All the more so since Macron’s statements after his visit to China – in which he pretended he was leaving Taiwan and insulting the United States by “helping the Chinese” – caused a lot of annoyance and misunderstanding in many European capitals, he says.
In The Hague, however, it did not arouse indignation, continues De Vries. “I noticed Prime Minister Mark Rutte was quite fierce in defending Macron during yesterday’s press conference,” he says. “Obviously he was very dear to his heart. (…). But apart from support, European unity on this issue is hard to find. So what he did diplomatically was not very useful ».