French President Macron Calls For Europe-Asia Alliance To Counter Global 'Coercion'
ISTANBUL, May 31 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called for closer cooperation between Europe and Asia to address rising global security challenges and safeguard international norms, reported Anadolu Ajansi (AA).
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, a key annual defence and security forum, Macron urged the international community to work together to resist pressures from countries seeking territorial and resource control.
"We have a challenge of revisionist countries that want to impose, under the name of spheres of influence, (and) spheres of coercion,' Macron said.
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"Countries that want to control areas from the fringes of Europe to the archipelagos in the South China Sea... that want to appropriate resources, whether fishing or mineral, and crowd out others for their benefit," he said.
"I will be clear, France is a friend and an ally of the United States, and is a friend, and we do cooperate, even if sometimes we disagree and compete with China,' Macron said.
He emphasised that Asia and Europe share a common interest in preventing the erosion of the global system.
"The time for non-alignment has undoubtedly passed, but the time for coalitions of action has come, and requires that countries capable of acting together give themselves every means to do so," he stressed.
The French president's visit to Southeast Asia comes as France and the EU seek to deepen commercial and diplomatic ties in the region to balance growing uncertainties over US trade policies under President Donald Trump, including new tariff threats.
Concerning the Middle East, Macron emphasised the importance of addressing the humanitarian situation in Gaza, warning that credibility is at risk.
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