Emmanuel Macron defends 'European political community' idea

French President Emmanuel Macron defended Thursday his idea of a "European political community" of nations seeking to join the European Union, saying it was not intended to be an alternative to membership of the bloc.

Macron raised hackles in Ukraine on May 9 by suggesting that the country could take "decades" to join the EU and should aspire instead to join a "European political community," a sort of antechamber for the EU.

The idea was to "create a new framework to structure our cooperation, bringing together democratic European nations that adhere to the core of our values and that are aspiring or not to join the European Union" Macron said before talks at the Elysee Palace with Moldova's President Maia Sandu.

"This community is not an alternative to the membership process but a complement which... enables us to structure more forcefully our political, energy and investment relations with several countries that want it," Macron said.

It was the third time Macron had welcomed Sandu to Paris.

Sandu praised the idea of a "political community" that she saw as likely to accelerate Moldova's bid to join the European Union.

"Moldova is a country with a European history which will without doubt have a European future," she said of the former Soviet country, which is sandwiched between Ukraine and EU member Romania.

"We understand the membership process is long and complex and requires a lot of effort and a lot of work. We are not looking for short cuts," she added.

Moldova lodged a formal EU membership request in March along with Georgia and shortly after Ukraine.