Macron Criticizes Germany's Lukewarm Response to EU Reform Plan: "Losing Patience"

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] French President Emmanuel Macron expressed dissatisfaction on the 15th (local time) with Germany's lukewarm attitude toward reform plans to strengthen the EU after Brexit (the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union).

At the Munich Security Conference that day, when asked if he was "frustrated" that German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not accept his recent proposals related to strengthening the EU, President Macron said, "I am not frustrated, but I am losing patience."

President Macron continued, "Germany and France have a history of waiting for each other's responses," but emphasized, "What is important in the coming years is that we must move faster on issues related to European sovereignty."

President Macron has been pushing reform plans to accelerate integration in the EU's financial and defense sectors in response to the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

However, Chancellor Merkel, who has announced she will not run in the next general election, has distanced herself from Macron's proposals such as a Eurozone joint budget and establishing France's nuclear deterrent as a core of the EU defense strategy.

During the Munich Security Conference, President Macron reportedly met consecutively with prominent figures from the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union coalition, the majority parties of Germany's grand coalition.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.