French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz penned a joint op-ed for the Financial Times ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, underscoring Europe’s “unshakeable determination” to confront Russia’s “imperialist war” and defend the continent’s peace and security.
The leaders said: “The main source of instability for Europe comes from Russia,” which has waged war through its invasions of Georgia in 2008, Crimea and Donbas in 2014, and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.”
They accused Moscow of a “methodical attempt... to destabilize European countries and to challenge the global order,” warning: “We cannot accept it, because our aim is to protect and preserve peace on our continent.”
Macron and Merz pledged that “France and Germany – together with our European and transatlantic friends and allies – stand united and strong, to defend our common values as well as the freedom and security of our citizens.”
They stressed that at the summit, they will “reaffirm our support for US efforts to bring an end to the war, with a solid and lasting peace, preserving Ukraine’s sovereignty and our security,” while calling for “the urgent necessity of a ceasefire, backed up by a determination to increase pressure on Russia, including through sanctions.”
Highlighting collective efforts so far, they wrote that “the EU, its member states and the UK have provided €130bn of support to Kyiv” and promised “we will increase our support to the Ukrainian armed forces” and “invest collectively in Ukraine’s defense industry.”
They also vowed to ensure “Ukraine’s future military is large enough and equipped to deter any new invasion.”
Looking beyond the war, the leaders warned, “We will live for the foreseeable future in a deeply destabilized environment,” with threats ranging “from terrorism to the protection of our territories, citizens and interests across the globe.”
To meet these challenges, France and Germany now “spend more than 2 per cent of their GDP on defense” and plan to go “beyond that, with the aim, ultimately, of reaching 3.5 per cent in core defense spending and 1.5 percent in broader expenses contributing to the defense effort.”
Macron and Merz highlighted their countries’ military presence on NATO’s eastern flank, noting they are “already deployed... as ‘framework nations’ in Lithuania and Romania,” with troops contributing in Poland, Estonia, and across the Baltic and Mediterranean seas.
The op-ed emphasized the importance of nuclear deterrence, stating, “Nuclear deterrence will remain the cornerstone of the alliance’s security; France’s independent strategic nuclear forces contribute significantly ... and Germany contributes to the alliance’s nuclear sharing arrangements.”
They also called for “a reform of our procurement systems by applying the ‘three S’s’: standardization, simplification and scale,” and stressed that “stronger and more capable European defense... is both complementary to and interoperable with NATO,” vital for maintaining “our technological edge.”
Macron and Merz wrote: “Showing unity against all threats, providing support to Ukraine and stating our determination to develop European defense capabilities and our industrial base through increased defense spending and investment are all part of the same equation.”
They unambiguously reaffirmed “allied unity, allied solidarity and a commitment to the freedom, peace and security of our continent.”