Emmanuel Macron urged Berlin on Sunday to join France and start "a new stage" in European cooperation to prevent the world from "sliding into chaos".
"Europe, and in particular the Franco-German duo, have the obligation not to let the world slip into chaos but accompany it on the road to peace. Europe must more powerful, more sovereign", he said in a speech delivered in front of the German Chamber of Deputies.
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The statement comes a week after Macron proposed to create "real European army" in order to protect the bloc from the US, Russia and China. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed the proposal made by the French president earlier this week, stressing that a unified European army could be a "good supplement to NATO."
At the same time, US President Donald Trump called the proposal "very insulting," adding that "Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the US subsidizes greatly."