PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron urged Europe to seek a dialogue with Russia to enhance the continent’s security rather than relying primarily on the NATO military alliance.
Speaking Wednesday in a news conference in Riga, the capital of the Baltic nation of Latvia, Macron said Europeans should be able to rethink their relation with Russia despite recent tensions after the poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. “Our collective security imposes that, given geography, we need to discuss with Russians,” he insisted.
During a three-day visit to Lithuania and Latvia, Macron sought to reassure that his goal was to build up Europe’s defense capabilities as a complement to NATO — not to replace it.
Macron’s efforts towards Russia have prompted concerns from Baltic states, whose relations with Russia have remained icy for nearly 30 years since their independence in the wake of the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Estonia and Latvia both have sizable ethnic-Russian minorities, while Lithuania’s ethnic-Russian population is more minor.
Macron reiterated that Russia should provide clarifications on the poisoning of Navalny or the country would face international consequences — but he did not elaborate on what those would be.
Former US president Donald Trump. — AFP NEW YORK: The judge overseeing former US president Donald Trump’s...
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik. — AFP FileSARAJEVO: The parliament of Bosnia´s autonomous Serb Republic adopted...
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during the opening ceremony of the 6th China International Import...
Indonesia's Ruang volcano. — AFP JAKARTA: Indonesia shut a provincial airport and evacuated hundreds of people...
Myanmar’s detained former leader and Aung San Suu Kyi. — AFP LONDON: Myanmar’s detained former leader and Aung...
President Ruto is seen with the chief of the Kenya Defence Forces General Francis Ogolla in this photo on 28 February....