France's Macron says EU mutual assistance clause is unambiguous

The EU's mutual assistance clause is unambiguous, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday, after the bloc's leaders asked officials to prepare a blueprint for how it would work amid doubts over Washington's commitment to NATO.

President Donald Trump's criticism of NATO for failing to back the US in the war with Iran and his threats earlier this year to seize Greenland from Denmark have created urgency in the European Union to define the mutual assistance provisions.

Unlike NATO's Article 5 collective defence pact, the EU's mutual assistance clause is not backed by operational plans or military structures. It has been activated only once, by France in 2015, after Islamist attackers killed 130 people in Paris.

"On article 42, paragraph seven ... we know that for us, it is clear and there is no room for interpretation or ambiguity, if I may say so, on this clause," Macron said at a news conference in Greece with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Both Macron and the Greek prime minister said efforts to strengthen defence at the EU level should be thought of as a complement to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) rather than a replacement for the alliance.

"I would say that NATO and the United States should be satisfied that Europe is taking strategic autonomy seriously and investing more in defence. We are strengthening the European pillar of NATO in this way," Mitsotakis said.