France’s Macron warns Europe against authoritarianism

In his first speech to the European Parliament, Macron warned that there was a “sort of European civil war”, adding that “there is a fascination with the illiberal and it’s growing all the time.”

“I don’t want to belong to a generation of sleepwalkers, I don’t want to belong to a generation that’s forgotten its own past,” the 40-year-old president said in a speech outlining his vision for the future of the EU.

“I want to belong to a generation that will defend European sovereignty because we fought to obtain it. And I will not give in to any kind of fixation on authoritarianism,” he added.

The young French president’s call to arms comes after populist parties won elections in Hungary and Italy in recent weeks, and as Brussels confronts Poland’s right-wing government over the rule of law.

Macron’s election last year, defeating the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, and his ardent pro-Europeanism have made him the poster boy for a revived post-Brexit EU whose proponents aim to battle the challenges of populism.

But he has struggled to win support for all his proposals, and his speech to MEPs is part of a charm offensive ahead of European Parliament elections in May 2019, the first after Britain’s departure.

Later this week Macron will travel to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to try to boost flagging support for his plans for the future of the eurozone.