EU Commission president says EU must strengthen its own security
Describing the situation as “dangerous and transactional,” she said Europe can no longer operate under assumptions that once defined global stability. “The reality of this world means we Europeans must defend ourselves and we must depend on ourselves,” she stated, emphasizing that previous expectations about security and cooperation are no longer sufficient.
She cautioned that Europe must not allow outside perspectives to dictate its future, arguing that shifts in global economic power affect all major actors. While acknowledging assessments pointing to Europe’s shrinking share of global economic output, she noted that similar trends apply elsewhere and warned against complacency. According to her, Europe “cannot afford to let the worldviews define us.”
Pointing to concrete progress, she highlighted the bloc’s efforts to strengthen independence, particularly in the energy sector. Under recent initiatives, reliance on Russian energy has been sharply reduced, with gas imports falling from nearly half of total supply at the start of the Ukraine war to a much smaller share, coal imports eliminated entirely, and oil imports from Russia reduced to minimal levels. She described this transformation as a foundation for future resilience, declaring that “Europe's era of independence must be unstoppable.”
The Commission president also stressed that Europe must move faster to address emerging security challenges, including hybrid threats. She underscored the urgency of strengthening defense capabilities, arguing that responsibility can no longer be deferred. “The bottom line is simple – Europe must be responsible for its own security. This is no longer an option. It is a must,” she said.
She noted that defense investment across the EU has increased dramatically, with plans enabling hundreds of billions of euros in spending by the end of the decade, a sharp contrast to the relatively modest sums allocated in previous years. In this context, she framed continued support for Ukraine as central to Europe’s own defense posture, calling it “the most important act of European defense.”
To sustain that support, she outlined two proposed funding paths — one involving the use of frozen Russian assets and another based on EU-level borrowing — and urged EU leaders to reach a decision at the upcoming summit to secure financing for Ukraine over the next two years.
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