EU must defend Ukraine, Macron says during state visit to Sweden

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe's leaders to make bold and "innovative" decisions in the coming months to "accelerate" and increase their aid to Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf inspect the Grenadier Guards of the Life Guards during a welcome ceremony at the Inner Courtyard of the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday Jan. 30, 2024. AP - Claudio Bresciani

"We will, in the months to come, have to accelerate the scale of our support," Macron said in a speech to Karlberg military academy during a visit to Sweden.

 The "costs... of a Russian victory are too high for all of us."

Macron on war in Ukraine

He added: "There is no more security framework and architecture on our continent if there is a Russian victory.

Macron praised Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who in early December called on the EU to find new ways of raising funds to finance Europe's military purchases in response to Russia's invasion.

"I want to praise our colleague Kaja Kallas" for her "very bold decision for our defence industry strategy to have some sort of grant approach in order to raise more money to finance support."

EU leaders are to gather in Brussels on Thursday for a meeting of the European Council, where they will discuss aid to Ukraine as the war nears its second anniversary.

Macron's Swedish visit

French President Emmanuel Macron began the  two-day state visit to Sweden Tuesday during which he is due to meet Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and the Scandinavian country’s monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf.

ESS is honoured to welcome His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and President Emmanuel Macron of France on 31st Jan as part of France's State visit to Sweden. 🇸🇪🇫🇷 #ESS #Sweden #France #Collaboration pic.twitter.com/Ng9h0Oo5JZ

— ESS (@essneutron) January 29, 2024

After more than a year of delays, Turkey earlier this month completed its ratification of Sweden’s bid to join NATO, meaning Hungary is now the last member of the military alliance not to have given its approval. All NATO countries must agree before a new member can join the alliance.

• Turkey ratifies Sweden's NATO membership after protracted delay

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden and neighboring Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military nonalignment to seek protection under NATO’s security umbrella. Finland joined the alliance last year.

Sweden's Sverige Radio reported today that Stockholm wil upgrade the 2018 brochure If Crisis or War Comes, and it will be mailed to all Swedish households this autumn. The contents will be "more aligned with Sweden's prospective NATO membership, and the heightened security situation," according to the station. 

Page from "If Crisis or War Comes," a booklet issued by the Swedish Contingency Agency. It will be updated and handed to the population this fall and was updated as a result of growing concerns about a possible Russian invasion. © Screengrab Swedish Contingency Agency

On Wednesday, Macron and his wife are to travel to Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city, in southern Sweden, where they will visit a European multidisciplinary research facility under construction and visit a company to discuss green technologies.

At home, Macron's government faces angry farmers who have camped out around Paris. They demand better pay, fewer constraints and lower costs. On Monday, they encircled Paris with traffic-snarling barricades, using hundreds of tractors and hay bales to block highways leading to the capital.

The French president initially was to travel to Sweden in late October, but the visit was postponed due to the Gaza war that began with Hamas’ attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

(With newswires)