French President Emmanuel Macron accused Washington of breaching international law and turning away from its partners days after the US captured and removed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and threatened to take control of Greenland.
The US “is an established power, but one that is gradually turning away from some of its allies and breaking free from international rules”, Mr Macron told French ambassadors in Paris on Thursday.
He told his annual foreign policy address that events over recent months confirmed his belief that there was a "real temptation to divide up the world".
“We are living in a world that is coming off the rails,” he said.
“Multilateral institutions are functioning less and less effectively.
“We are living in a world of great powers with a real temptation to divide up the world and I believe that what we’ve seen over recent months and sometimes days has only confirmed this."
US President Donald Trump has long argued that the US must control Greenland to ensure what he describes as his country’s own security. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said earlier this week that if Mr Trump were to attack Greenland, it would mean the end of Nato.
Mr Trump’s increasingly forceful comments about seizing Greenland in the days following the US operation to capture Mr Maduro on January 3 have prompted European leaders to urge the US President to respect Danish sovereignty.
“We are caught up in a very surprising game where we, the French and Europeans, are subjected to anti-colonial rhetoric that no longer corresponds to reality,” Mr Macron said. “Every day people wonder whether Greenland will be invaded, whether Canada will be threatened with becoming the 51st state or whether Taiwan will be further encircled.”
He said that France would stand by its commitments. “When France commits, it is there,” he said. “This holds great value for our diplomacy, for our businesses, and for our strategic interests everywhere in the world."
Earlier this week, the French leader said he saw “no scenario” whereby the US would breach Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland. He has previously offered to conduct joint exercises to improve security there.
On Wednesday, former prime minister Dominique de Villepin, known for having opposed the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and a potential presidential candidate next year, said that any aggression on EU soil would make the US an enemy.
Mr Macron concluded his speech by saying he refused “the new colonialism and new imperialism, but also vassalization and defeatism”, renewing his previous calls for the continent to favour European-made products in trade and to cut red tape.
