“Europe must be able to take care of its own defense and security, this must be a moment of European independence”, said the President of the European Commission in her State of the Union speech.
“This must be a moment of European independence. I believe that this is the mission of our Union, to be able to take care of our own defense and security, to take control of the technologies and energy that will drive our economies,” von der Leyen said in a speech to MEPs at a plenary session in Strasbourg.
She stressed that the battle lines for a new world order based on power are now being drawn.
– So yes, Europe must fight. For its place in a world where many great powers are either ambivalent or openly hostile to Europe. A world of imperial ambitions and imperial wars. A world where dependencies are ruthlessly used as weapons. And it is precisely for all these reasons that a new Europe must emerge, said the Commission President.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a loan for the reconstruction of Ukraine using frozen Russian assets as collateral on Wednesday.
We urgently need to work on a new solution to finance Ukraine’s war effort based on immobilized Russian assets, with which we can provide Ukraine with a reparations loan, von der Leyen said in her State of the Union speech.
She added that this money remains Russian property, and that Ukraine will return the loan only when Russia pays reparations.
The money will help Ukraine today, but it will be crucial for Ukraine’s security in the medium and long term. For example, funding strong Ukrainian armed forces as the first line of security guarantees, von der Leyen said.
Europe stands firmly by Poland, she said about the latest Russian drone attack that crossed the Polish border last night.
– Putin’s message is clear, and our answer must be clear as well. We are working on the 19th package of sanctions and we are working to prevent the Russian shadow fleet. So far, we have allocated 170 billion euros to help Ukraine, but Russia, which is leading the war, must also pay that burden, President von der Leyen said.
Source: EC in Croatia