France became the Presidency of the Council of the EU on January 1, 2022
Emmanuel Macron. Photo: John Thys / Pool / Reuters
France, which from January 1 took over the chairmanship of the Council of the European Union to replace Slovenia, intends to strengthen the sovereignty of Europe. This was stated by French President Emmanuel Macron, Interfax reports.
Now, for six months, France will represent the interests of the 27 EU member states before the European Commission and the European Parliament. Macron noted that a sovereign Europe is, first of all, “a Europe capable of controlling its borders.” According to him, recently the importance of protecting the territory has been shown by the “crisis on the eastern border” of the EU.
In this regard, he stressed that border protection is a priority and a prerequisite for ensuring the security of Europeans and accepting the migration challenge. It will also help avoid situations of high tension and hybrid wars, Macron added.
At the same time, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said that Paris can count on Berlin's full support in this matter, France 24 writes. According to her, these two countries, “as the closest friends in the heart of Europe, bear a special responsibility for a united European Union. capable of action and future-oriented ”. The German government explained that the rivalry between world powers such as the United States, China and Russia negatively affects the EU.
Earlier, Russian Ambassador to Paris Alexei Meshkov expressed hope for the restoration of trusting relations between Moscow and the European Union under the French presidency of the EU Council. According to him, at the moment, anti-Russian phobias and attitudes are growing in the association, which are not justified by anything other than ideologized confrontation.
