MUNICH, Germany — French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called on Europeans to become stronger — and on the U.S. to show some respect.

“A stronger Europe would be a better friend for its allies,” the French president told a packed hall at the Munich Security Conference. “Europe has to become a geopolitical power. We have to accelerate and deliver all the components of a geopolitical power: defense, technologies and de-risking from all the big powers.”

“I don’t talk about France or Germany becoming a geopolitical power, but Europe as a whole,” he said.

The French president has consistently called on Europeans to be more independent, popularizing the term “strategic autonomy” since entering office in 2017. Macron hammered that idea home in Munich, attending the conference for the first time since 2023.

Prior to the conference, a person close to the president said France hopes that Europeans will continue pushing for more independence from the U.S., even if Trump’s threat to annex Greenland has abated for now.

“We mustn’t let the momentum fade,” the aide said, nothing that in past crises such as Trump’s Oval Office ambush of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European outrage quickly waned following calming words from Washington. 

In clear rebuke of last year’s bruising attack on Europe by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Macron on Friday painted a positive picture of the continent, rejecting accusations that EU countries are stifling free speech with digital regulations. Instead, he argued that social media and online platforms, mostly American-owned, are amplifying foreign interference and disinformation that is undermining democracy.

In a sign of the importance he placed on the Munich event, he was accompanied by Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Deputy Defense Minister Alice Rufo and Deputy Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad.

Nuclear umbrella

Macron also teased a much-anticipated speech on France’s nuclear doctrine, which is expected in the coming weeks. POLITICO first reported the address would take place in Brest, where French nuclear submarines are stationed. 

Europe needs to rebuild a new defense architecture, and that includes nuclear deterrence, especially now that the New START treaty limiting the American and Russian arsenals has expired, the French president said.

Earlier on Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed that talks were ongoing with Paris about how France’s nuclear weapons could contribute to Europe’s security. Pressed about Merz’s comments, Macron said he will provide more “details” in his upcoming speech.

France and some European countries are looking to see “how we can articulate our national doctrine with special cooperation, common security interest, this is what we’re doing for the first time in history [with Germany],” Macron told the audience.

Despite multiple reports, including by POLITICO, that the Future Combat Air System is at a dead end, Macron said he still “believed” in the fighter jet project with Germany and Spain.

Earlier this week, Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius struck a much less enthusiastic tone. A defense official also told POLITICO on Friday that Airbus, one of the project’s main contractors, was weighing participation in the rival Global Combat Air Programme led by Italy, the U.K. and Japan.

Macron also backed more promising European defense industrial cooperations, such as a project to jointly develop deep precision strike capabilities known as ELSA with a group of European countries including Germany and Poland, and another one called JEWEL with Germany about early-warning systems to track missiles. 

Victor Goury-Laffont and Jordyn Dahl contributed to this report.