Emmanuel Macron opposes Trump’s NATO criticism
Matt Finn reports on global efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while French President Emmanuel Macron criticizes NATO alliances. General Jack Keane analyzes escalating tensions after reported US airstrikes collapsed an Iranian bridge.
As British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron convene a summit on Friday on the future of the Strait of Hormuz, the two leaders are pushing for a European-led plan to reopen the crucial shipping route after the war, without American leadership.
The proposal calls for a post-conflict naval mission, made up of Britain, France and other “non-belligerent” countries, that would deploy only after the fighting ends. Unlike President Donald Trump’s current strategy of blockading Iranian ports with US naval power, the Anglo-French initiative is intended to be separate from the warring parties and aimed at restoring commercial shipping.
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Starmer and Macron are two heads of state who work together in the European ‘Coalition of the Willing’ in the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. (Tom Nicholson/Getty Images)
Macron and Starmer are expected to host a summit to advance what both governments describe as a “coordinated, independent, multinational plan” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once the fighting is over.
“France and Great Britain will also host a conference this Friday in Paris, bringing together by videoconference non-belligerent countries willing to contribute with us to a multilateral and purely defensive mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait when security conditions allow,” Macron wrote on X.
Starmer similarly described the effort as a “coordinated, independent, multinational plan to protect international shipping when the conflict ends,” and said Britain had already rallied more than 40 countries around the initiative, Reuters reported. Washington was not part of those earlier conversations.
The senior European official said the proposed force would be “strictly defensive” and deployed only after active fighting and bombing ends, with the aim of restoring normal shipping rather than enforcing a war corridor.
The official also rejected suggestions that Paris and London are trying to sideline the Trump administration, saying the US has been kept informed and there is extensive coordination with Washington, even though the emerging mission is currently limited to “non-belligerent” countries.
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Iran seized two foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, reportedly carrying 1 million liters of smuggled fuel. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP)
“We are coordinating a lot with them,” the official said, adding that the goal is to create a framework that can function once the conflict is over.
Macron has repeatedly emphasized that France’s intended mission would be “strictly defensive” and ruled out escorting ships while “bombing” was underway. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said “several dozen countries” had already taken part in preparatory discussions led by military chiefs of staff, and that any future mission would also require coordination with Gulf littoral states, according to Reuters.
The British-French initiative comes at a time when Trump has taken a much more aggressive approach, ordering the US Navy to blockade Iranian ports and continue operations aimed at securing the strategic waterway after US-Iran ceasefire negotiations collapsed in Pakistan.
Critics argue that without American military power, the European proposal risks being largely symbolic.
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A Navy ship is seen sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which much of the world’s oil and gas flows, on March 1, 2026. (Sahar Al Attar/AFP)
Britain and France are exaggerating what they can realistically achieve, said Barak Seener, an analyst at the Henry Jackson Society.
“Keir Starmer’s claim ‘We will not be dragged into war’ obscures the shameful fact that the Royal Navy faces a hollowed-out crisis, making the initiative ‘strictly defensive’,” he said.
“The French Navy also faces structural and budgetary pressures that are straining its ability to conduct operations at a rapid pace.”
“It is laughable that a European coalition of ‘non-belligerent’ countries, which are only prepared to take action once hostilities have ended, can even talk about protecting its shipping lanes,” Seener added.
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TOPSHOT – French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to an informal summit of European leaders to discuss the situation in Ukraine and European security at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on February 17, 2025. European leaders were scheduled to meet in Paris on February 17, 2025 to address Washington’s shocking policy change on the war in Ukraine as Britain declared its willingness to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images) (Ludovic Marin/AFP)
“Ultimately, U.S. deployment of hard power consisting of aircraft carriers and fighter jets to blockade Iranian ports and clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz can protect shipping lanes.”
