French president Emmanuel Macron said the European Union’s mutual defence clause is “not just words.” He stressed that member states have already demonstrated their willingness to act collectively in response to security threats when they sent joint military aid to Cyprus.
Speaking during a visit to Greece alongside Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Macron pointed to recent coordinated European support for Cyprus following a drone attack on a British base, as an example of how the clause can be applied in practice. The clause—Article 42.7 of the EU treaty—obliges member states to assist one another in the event of armed aggression, but has so far only been formally invoked once, by France after the 2015 Paris attacks.
Macron argued that the provision should now be operationalised more clearly, with EU leaders working on practical guidelines for how it would function in real scenarios, including military and non-military responses.
The renewed focus on EU defence comes amid growing uncertainty over the reliability of the NATO alliance, particularly following criticism from U.S. president Donald Trump and tensions linked to the Iran conflict.
Macron and Mitsotakis took the opportunity to stress that strengthening EU defence is not intended to replace NATO, but to reinforce Europe’s role within it, as the bloc seeks greater strategic autonomy in an increasingly unstable global environment.
