The European political organization “is in danger,” says the French foreign minister

Paris – “No, European civilization will not disappear. But yes, our political organization is today in danger, despite its precious stability in an unpredictable world, despite its immense scientific, technological, cultural and financial wealth,” said Jean-Noël Barrot.

In their national security strategy published in December, the United States believes that Europe’s economic decline “is overshadowed by the real and darker prospect of a civilizational erasure.”

“No, Europe is not on the verge of civilizational erasure and the presumptuous voices that claim so would do better to beware of their own erasure,” the French minister retorted.

But the European Union is, according to him, “threatened from the outside by adversaries who are trying to unravel the bonds of solidarity that unite us” and “from the inside by democratic fatigue.”

“Let us be clear-eyed, nothing guarantees us today that we will still be living within the European Union as we know it in ten years’ time,” he warned.

The United States are “allies with whom we are not always aligned,” he also observed.

“In a few months, the new American administration has decided, and it is its right, to rethink the ties that unite us. It is also our right to say no to a historic ally, however historic it may be, when its proposal is not acceptable and when it is necessary to say no,” insisted the French foreign minister. (January 9, 2026)