German Finance Minister Christian Lindner called French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for the European Union to strive for strategic autonomy “naive,” especially given “nuclear superpower” Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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German Finance Minister Christian Lindner called French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for the European Union to strive for strategic autonomy “naive,” especially given “nuclear superpower” Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“The idea of strategic autonomy of the European Union, I fear it’s naive,” Lindner said Friday in a Q&A session after a speech at Princeton University. “Security on European soil without the strategic nuclear potential of the United States at least is unthinkable.”
The US and Europe are partners in values and should also be trading partners, the finance minister added, alluding to the ongoing negotiations between the Biden administration and the EU regarding the Inflation Reduction Act, a subsidy program which favors investment in the US, drawing them away from Europe.
Lindner, who’s also leader of the Liberal Party, visited the Ivy League university after the International Monetary Fund/World Bank spring meetings in Washington.
Read more: Macron Gets Europe’s China Problem — and He’s Making It Worse
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