French President Panned for Warning Europe Against Becoming US Vassal

French President Emmanuel Macron waits for European Commission president Ursula van der Leyen before a working lunch, at the Elysee Palace in Paris on April 3, 2023. Aurelien Morissard/AP Photo

French President Emmanuel Macron has again been castigated for comments he made following a diplomatic visit to China, where he urged Europe to pursue strategic autonomy and resist becoming American “vassals.”

Australian Senator Simon Birmingham, the shadow minister for Foreign Affairs, said that Macron’s comments were unbecoming of a country like France that stood for liberty and democracy.

“An important point for any leader of a democratic nation to be mindful of is the need for us all to work together in defence of our values," Birmingham told Sky News Australia.

“Particularly leaders of nations that want to see respect for those international rules and norms need to be willing to stand up for them consistently and do so in ways that help to preserve the type of liberty and democracy that in a country like France, they consider so important,” he added.

“It’s not unreasonable for us to expect that those sorts of partners should also be standing up for the values, the rules, that are under pressure not just from Ukraine but from autocratic actions elsewhere around the world.”

Minister for Finance Simon Birmingham at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, May 13, 2021. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Macron’s comments were made during an interview with Politico, where he warned that if the tensions between China and the United States ramped up or became kinetic, “We won’t have the time nor the resources to finance our strategic autonomy, and we will become vassals.”

“The paradox would be that, overcome with panic, we believe we are just America’s followers,” Macron said. “The question Europeans need to answer … is it in our interest to accelerate [a crisis] on Taiwan? No. The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”

Macron also spoke about Europe becoming a third superpower.

Birmingham said that Macron’s comments appeared to point to a failure to understand the challenges that countries are facing in relation to Beijing’s efforts to destroy or break the international rules-based order.

US Senator Rubio Says Macron Does Not Represent Europe

The comments from the Australian senator echo similar comments made by U.S. elected officials like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who condemned French President Emanuel Macron in a Twitter post for appearing to advocate for Europe to distance itself from the United States over Chinese military aggression against Taiwan.

He also argued that if this were the case, it would benefit the United States to cut ties with the European Union.

“This is a good moment for us to ask Europe: Does Macron speak for all of Europe, is Macron now the head of Europe, is he now the most powerful leader in Europe?” Rubio questioned, then noting if that were the case, “There are some things that have to change.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at The Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 25, 2022. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Rubio also addressed the United States’ military assistance to Ukraine, saying Americans have spent “a lot of our taxpayer money” on the European conflict. He also stressed that he supports the cause because he believes “it’s in the national interests of the United States to be allies to our allies.”

“But, if our allies’ position—if, in fact, Macron speaks for all of Europe, and their position now is they’re not gonna pick sides between the U.S. and China over Taiwan—maybe we shouldn’t be picking sides either. Maybe we should basically say we’re gonna focus on Taiwan and the threats China poses, and you guys handle Ukraine and Europe,” Rubio said.

European Leaders Push Back Against French Leader’s Comments

Macron has also faced pushback from other European leaders who were quick to denounce the French president’s comments.

Norbert Röttgen, a German MP who is a member and former chair of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said the French president’s trip to China had become a “PR coup for Xi and a foreign policy disaster” for Europe in a thread on Twitter.

“With his idea of sovereignty, which he defines in demarcation rather than partnership with the USA, he is increasingly isolating himself in Europe,” he said.

He also said Macron was “once again dividing Europe & making a common China policy more difficult.”

“Macron has already disappointed the Baltics, Central & Eastern Europeans by doing almost nothing with respect to Ukraine. They are now much more realistic on #China as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance in China has issued a statement saying they were dismayed by Macron’s comments, which were “severely out of step” with the rest of Europe.

“Monsieur Le President, you do not speak for Europe,” IPAC members said.

“President Macron’s ill-judged remarks not only disregard the vital place of Taiwan in the global economy but undermine the decades-long commitment of the international community to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait.”