NATO chief says he sees no need for new EU defence structures

PARIS - Europe has no need for new structures related to European Union defence strategy, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday, a day after French President Emmanuel Macron called for a rethink of EU defence.

Macron said on Thursday the EU needed to define a new defence strategy that would strengthen its ability to defend itself, even though the transatlantic NATO alliance remained useful and effective.

"What we need is more capabilities, and not new structures competing for capabilities," Stoltenberg said at a joint news conference with the French foreign and defence ministers in Paris.