French President Emmanuel Macron in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday has warned that "there seems to be a European civil war" between liberal democracy and rising authoritarianism.
"There seems to be a certain European civil war: national selfishness and negativity seems to take precedence over what brings us together. There is a fascination with the illiberal and that is growing all the time", French President added.
"I don't want to belong to a generation of sleepwalkers that has forgotten its own past", Macron said.
French President condemned what he called "a fascination with the illiberal" in Europe.
“In the future we must struggle to defend our ideals”, Macron warned.
Macron also criticized Eurosceptics who drove the vote for Brexit in the UK.
As Brexit will leave a big hole in the EU budget he said there should no longer be budget rebates for some member states.
However, Macron now faces a tall order securing support for his ambitious reform agenda, including in the European legislature, where his fledgling La République en marche (Republic on the move) party still has no formal representation.
Analysts have warned that the French president may also struggle to sway conservative supporters of Germany’s Merkel, who are pushing back against attempts to give Brussels more power amid rising euroscepticism in the bloc’s economic powerhouse.
