French President Emmanuel Macron has accused the United States of gradually distancing itself from its allies and loosening its adherence to international norms, remarks that reflect widening concern in Europe over the direction of US foreign policy. Speaking during his annual address to French ambassadors, Macron framed recent developments as part of a broader transition away from multilateral cooperation and toward renewed great power rivalry.
Macron argued that the global system is increasingly shaped by competition among major powers, with rules and institutions losing influence as strategic interests take precedence. He warned that this shift risks undermining stability at a moment when diplomatic mechanisms are already under strain.
According to Macron, the current international environment is marked by a growing temptation among powerful states to divide the world into spheres of influence. While the United States remains an established global power, he said it is gradually turning away from some of its allies and freeing itself from legal and institutional frameworks it previously championed, particularly in trade and security.
The French president suggested that this evolution reflects a deeper structural change rather than a temporary policy adjustment, signalling a long-term erosion of the norms that underpinned the post-Cold War order.
Macron’s remarks come amid controversy surrounding recent US military actions in Venezuela, where Washington carried out an operation that resulted in the removal of President Nicolás Maduro. The episode has prompted renewed debate over sovereignty, intervention, and the boundaries of international law.
While US officials have defended the operation as necessary for regional stability, critics in Europe and elsewhere have questioned its legality and warned that such actions risk normalising unilateral force outside multilateral frameworks. For Macron, the case illustrates a broader weakening of collective decision-making mechanisms.
Tensions between Washington and its European partners have also been sharpened by renewed US rhetoric regarding Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory whose strategic importance has grown as Arctic competition intensifies. President Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that Greenland is vital to US security interests, prompting firm rejection from Denmark and concern among other European NATO members.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that any attempt to annex Greenland would undermine the alliance itself. Her position was later echoed by several European leaders, who stressed that the island’s future belongs to its population and cannot be imposed by external powers.
Macron said France and the European Union increasingly find themselves navigating an international landscape defined less by cooperation and more by rivalry. He argued that Europe faces mounting pressure from competing power centres, often accompanied by rhetoric that obscures the realities of Europe’s political and historical position.
The French president called for greater European strategic autonomy, warning that long-standing assumptions about shared norms, alliances, and international law can no longer be taken for granted as the transatlantic relationship enters a more uncertain phase.