PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron is calling on medium-sized powers to join forces and stand up to the United States and China. Macron repeated the message during his tour of Asia this week, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Speaking to students in Seoul, Macron said the goal for such nations should not be to serve as vassals to the world’s two dominant powers. He argued that countries do not want to depend on China’s influence or be exposed to what he called the unpredictability of the US.
Macron listed Australia, Brazil, Canada and India as potential partners in this coalition. He also pointed to Japan and South Korea, two nations that have been hit hard by high energy costs after the war in Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Macron, these countries share a common agenda on issues such as international law, democracy, climate change and global health. He said they could work together on artificial intelligence, space, energy, nuclear power, defense and security.
Macron has long pushed for Europe to act as a counterbalance to the US and China. In 2023, during a trip to China, he said the European Union should not be a vassal of the US.
The French president’s comments came as US President Donald Trump stepped up his criticism of NATO allies. Trump has targeted France and South Korea for not doing more to support the US in the Iran conflict. He accused France of being unhelpful for refusing to let US military planes fly over French territory.
Macron said France was not consulted about the war in Iran and is not a party to the conflict. He said the US is a great country but risks opening Pandora’s Box with its current approach. Macron said he does not believe military action alone will solve the situation, citing Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan as examples where such efforts failed to deliver results.
Instead, Macron proposed a deconfliction mechanism with Iran and suggested an escort mission for ships in the Strait of Hormuz once the bombing ends. The conflict has stopped commercial shipping in the strait, which normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas exports.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed Macron’s framing, mocking his classification of large nations such as India, Brazil and Canada as “medium-sized.” She wrote on her Telegram channel that she must have missed the news about when geography was canceled in France.
Macron is set to host the G-7 summit in France in June, where he is expected to push his message further.