‘Breaking Free’: Macron Criticises US For Abandoning Allies, Undermining Global Rules

Last Updated:January 08, 2026, 19:33 IST

Macron criticises the US for abandoning global rules; EU leaders worry about Trump's Greenland plans and stress upholding international law.

French President Emmanuel Macron accused the US of breaking rules on trade and “some elements of security". (Reuters File Photo)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday slammed the US was “breaking free from international rules" and “gradually turning away" from some of its allies.

In his annual speech to French ambassadors at the Elysee Palace, Macron said: “The United States is an established power, but one that is gradually turning away from some of its allies and breaking free from international rules that it was still promoting recently."

He accused the US of breaking rules on trade and “some elements of security," Politico reported.

This comes as the European leaders work towards a coordinated response to US President Donald Trump if he acts on his threat to acquire Greenland. Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory with a population of about 57,000, holds untapped rare earth deposits and sits on key polar routes that could become strategically important as ice melts. It also lies on the shortest missile route between Russia and the United States and hosts a US military base.

“Multilateral institutions are functioning less and less effectively," Macron said. “We are living in a world of great powers with a real temptation to divide up the world."

“We are evolving in a world of great powers, where there’s a real temptation to carve up the world," he said. “What has happened these last few months, and sometimes last few days, does not diminish this assessment."

AFP quoted the French President saying that Europe must protect its interests and urged the “consolidation" of European regulation of the tech sector.

While emphasising the importance of safeguarding academic independence, he hailed “the possibility of having a controlled information space where opinions can be exchanged completely freely, but where choices are not made by the algorithms of a few".

Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has called Trump’s remarks on Greenland as “deeply concerning" while confirming that the EU has had an internal discussion on how it could respond to any move from the US to control the territory.

Speaking in Egypt after a meeting with the country’s foreign minister, he said: “The messages that we hear regarding Greenland are extremely concerning, and we have had discussions also among the Europeans … [on] if this is real threat, and if it is, then what would be our response?"

“As Denmark has been a good ally for United States … these … statements are not really helping the stability of the world," he further said.

“I would say the international law is very clear. We have to stick to it. It is clear that it is the only thing that protects smaller countries, and that’s why it is in the interest of all of us, and we discussed this today as well, that we uphold the international law on all levels." he added.

News world ‘Breaking Free’: Macron Criticises US For Abandoning Allies, Undermining Global Rules

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