German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and French President Emmanuel Macron aim to counter the new direction of the US administration under President Donald Trump with a confident and united Europe.

    The two leaders made this intention clear during Scholz’s brief visit to Paris on Wednesday, two days after Trump’s inauguration.

    “Europe will not cower and hide, but instead be a constructive and assertive partner,” they asserted.

    “It is more than ever up to the Europeans, and therefore our two countries, to fully play their role in consolidating a united, strong, and sovereign Europe, a Europe committed to the trans-Atlantic bond, but also capable of asserting and defending its own interests through its European values and instruments,” Macron stated in Scholz’s presence at the Élysée.

    The French President warned that this also means increasing defence spending. “Today, Europeans must prioritise our Europe more than ever, specifically our competitiveness, prosperity, and security,” he said.

    President Trump’s second term will be “a challenge,” Scholz noted, stressing that Europe needed to be strong and resilient in a world that is in flux.