BRITAIN/EU/FRANCE/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Emmanuel Macron on Monday [8-27-18] said preserving European Union unity was more important than forging a close relationship with post-Brexit Britain, and hit out at what he called U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘aggressive’ isolationism. As pressure mounts on Prime Minister Theresa May to agree terms for Britain’s divorce from the EU and the shape of their future trade relationship, Macron showed no sign of breaking ranks with other EU capitals…Brexit, Macron said, ‘is a sovereign choice, which we must respect, but it can’t come at the expense of the European Union’s integrity.’ Macron did not announce any major shifts in foreign policy in the annual address to his ambassadors, but spoke forcefully about what he labelled the ‘crisis of multilateralism’ and the need to make Europe more ‘sovereign.’ He urged Europe to exert itself as ‘a trade and economic power,’ which defends its strategic interests and financial independence and is able to fend off the extraterritorial reach of U.S. sanctions.”
–Michel Rose, Richard Lough, “Macron says Brexit cannot divide EU, criticises Trump’s isolationism,” Reuters, August 27, 2018 3:57 am