Putin Calls Macron's EU Army Idea 'Natural' Desire to Ensure Bloc's Security

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin called French President Emmanuel Macron's idea to create the European Union's own army an essential desire of member countries to ensure their security.

Macron said on November 6 that Europe should have a "real European army" to be able to defend itself.

"As for the alternative all-European armed forces, this is not a new idea, now president Macron has revived it, but one of the former presidents, Jacques Chirac, told me about this, but such ideas had existed even before him.

In principle, Europe is a powerful economic formation, a powerful economic union and, in general, it is quite natural that they want to be independent, self-sufficient, sovereign in the field of defense and security," Putin said in an interview with the RT France broadcaster.

The Russian president stressed that such an idea is "a generally positive process in terms of strengthening the multipolarity of the world."

"In this sense, our positions overlap with France," Putin added.