(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to strengthen the European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a joint article for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

“It is now our task once again to ensure that the coming generations of Europeans can live on a continent of peace, prosperity and freedom,” they wrote. “We are providing Ukraine with political, financial and humanitarian support, have supplied weapons and ammunition on an unprecedented scale, and have trained Ukrainian soldiers.”

Scholz and Macron are due to meet Sunday in Paris for the 60th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty, signed between Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer to end years of hostility.

They said Europe needs to invest more in its armed forces and in the armaments industry. 

“This improves our defense capabilities and thus also promotes transatlantic relations,” they said. They also highlighted the need to develop new renewable energy sources and power grids, to boost the EU’s manufacturing capability, and to make progress toward a capital markets union and a banking union.

“In the history of our continent we have reached a crucial point,” they said. “To complete, improve and strengthen Europe requires efforts of gigantic proportions.”

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