BERLIN (Realist English). German Finance Minister Christian Lindner called French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for the European Union to strive for strategic autonomy “naive,” especially given “nuclear superpower” Russia’s war in the Ukraine, Bloomberg reports.
“The idea of strategic autonomy of the European Union, I fear it’s naive,” Lindner said Friday in a Q&A session after a speech at Princeton University. “Security on European soil without the strategic nuclear potential of the United States at least is unthinkable.”
According to the German minister, the United States and Europe are partners in values and should be trading partners. He hinted at the ongoing negotiations between Washington and Brussels on the Inflation Reduction Act, a subsidy program that promotes investment in the United States, distracting them from Europe. Lindner, who’s also leader of the Liberal Party, visited the Ivy League university after the International Monetary Fund/World Bank spring meetings in Washington.
