<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>French President Emmanuel Macron called on Thursday for stronger, more integrated European defences as he outlined his vision for a more assertive European Union on the global stage.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In a speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris, he also said the continent must not become a vassal of the United States.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"There is a risk our Europe could die. We are not equipped to face the risks," Macron said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With just three years left of his second and final term in office, Macron, 46, wants to show his critics he retains the energy and fresh thinking that helped propel him into the presidency in 2017 and that he has not become a lame duck leader.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the speech lasting nearly two hours, he warned that military, economic and other pressures could weaken and fragment the 27-nation EU.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia must not be allowed to win in Ukraine, he said, calling for a boost in Europe's cybersecurity capacity, closer defence ties with post-Brexit Britain, and the creation of a European academy to train high-ranking military personnel.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Europeans should give preference to buying European military equipment, he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We must produce more, we must produce faster, and we must produce as Europeans," Macron said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The speech won a positive response from Macron's main EU partner, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with whom he has often clashed on defence and trade issues.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"France and Germany want Europe to be strong," Scholz said in a post. "Your speech contains good ideas on how we can achieve this."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Macron has long called for European "strategic autonomy" involving less reliance on the United States, a stance that has gained greater resonance in the face of Donald Trump's bid to return to the White House. Trump has often accused Europe of free loading on defence at the United States' expense.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Europe "must show that it is never a vassal of the United States and that it also knows how to talk to all the other regions of the world," Macron said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many EU officials believe there is currently no credible alternative to the U.S. military umbrella. Source: Reuters </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>