At the heart of the defense strategy "there must be a simple principle: Europe must spend more, spend better, spend in a European way. In the coming weeks we will present some proposals with the first European industrial strategy for defence. One of the objectives central will be to give priority to joint procurement in the defense sector. Just like we did with vaccines or natural gas."
This was announced by the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen speaking at the plenary of the European Chamber.
"On one point I would like to be clear: European sovereignty will make our partnerships stronger. It will never influence the importance and necessity of our NATO alliance. Indeed, a more sovereign Europe, particularly in matters of defence, is fundamental for the strengthening of NATO", underlined the president of the EU Commission.
"That's why I am delighted with the news that Sweden will soon become a NATO ally. And I want to congratulate Sweden, under the leadership of Kristersson for this historic step for the country and for our common security."
For von der Leyen "in recent years we have lived under the illusion of peace. Putin has used this dividend of peace for a new war".
Now “we are witnessing the power and dangers of a growing and disturbing league of authoritarian leaders. North Korea is delivering order after order of munitions to Russia. Iran is supplying attack drones, and, crucially, c It is also the technology that supports them, to inflict incalculable damage on Ukrainian cities and citizens."
“The war in Gaza and large-scale destabilization in the Middle East point to an era of insecurity and conflict in the region. And, of course, we see the continued rise of aggressive economic competition and distortions, which pose real risks to European security To put it bluntly, as outgoing Finnish President Niinistö did last month: “Europe must wake up,” he urged: “And I would add: urgently!
Because the stakes are very high: our freedom and our prosperity.
And we need to start behaving accordingly."
“We must start working on the future of the European security architecture. Because the truth is that we have not only been living with conflict since 2022, but for much longer. The threats to our security, our prosperity and our way of life they come in many forms. Some are obvious, others are more confusing on the surface", he continued in his speech to the European Parliament.
It ranges from "tackling political interference to reducing our dangerous dependencies - a policy I have called de-risking, up to the elimination of hostile actors from our critical infrastructures. We Europeans must be on our guard. It is not just a question of defeat bullies on the battlefield, but throughout our society. It will be a joint effort. But I am confident that we will overcome this challenge," she explained.
"The good news is that we have already started a lot of this work. In fact, the last few years have not only served to shatter some European illusions. But they have also shattered many illusions about Europe", namely "that our unity would not hold faced with a war on our continent. Or that our rules and divisions would prevent us from providing massive financial, military and political support. Over the past two years, Europe has shown that it will support Ukraine for as long as it takes And we have also shown that a more sovereign Europe is not just wishful thinking," von der Leyen noted.
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