French President Emmanuel Macron called on European countries to seek more independence in airspace defense and not rely too much on the United States. The conference touched on topics related to anti-drone warfare, ballistic missile defense, and nuclear deterrence. France has been publicly critical of the German-advocated "European Sky Shield Initiative," which the French government believes fails to adequately safeguard European sovereignty because it is expected to be based primarily on U.S. and Israeli industries. Macron: "We need to know what the threat situation is. What are we Europeans capable of producing?"