PARIS—French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said that the goal of European defense autonomy could go hand in hand with NATO membership. “We have succeeded in instilling the idea that European defense, and strategic defense autonomy, can be an alternative project to the trans-Atlantic organization, but very much a solid component of this,” Macron told a news conference before holding talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Macron also said U.S. President Joe Biden had expressed his respect for the European Union on the political level as well as his desire to work with the EU as a partner. Merkel, who prefers to see NATO remain the centerpiece of European defense, said she was happy the United States had recreated a “climate of cooperation.” “It is very clear from the G7 and NATO talks that the United States sees itself as both a Pacific and an Atlantic nation and, given the …