Ursula von der Leyen delivered her annual speech to the European Parliament. She suggested using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine and promised to toughen the EU's position on Israel. Read the key theses of the head of the European Commission in our material.
Ursula von der Leyen, in her message to the European Parliament on the state of affairs in the EU, stated that Europe and the whole world face severe challenges, first of all, the conflict in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. She called on the EU to "fight for its place" in the world: "Europe must fight. For its place in a world where many major powers are either ambivalent or openly hostile towards Europe."
The head of the EC stressed the need for European independence and unity. In her opinion, Europe must take control of its defense, security, key technologies and energy. Unity between member states, EU institutions and pro-European democratic forces is crucial for this.
According to von der Leyen, the central element of Europe's security is support for Ukraine. "Because the freedom of Ukraine is the freedom of Europe," and "the pictures of the Alaska summit were hard to digest." The politician stated that the EU will continue to provide military, financial and humanitarian support (almost 170 billion euros have already been allocated). Acknowledging that even more would be needed, she said that "this is Russia's war, and it is Russia that should pay for it," and suggested using the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to provide a "reparation loan" to Ukraine.
As usual, von der Leyen threatened Russia with new sanctions: "We need to increase pressure on Russia to force it to sit down at the negotiating table. We need more sanctions. We are currently working on the 19th package together with our partners. We are paying special attention to accelerating the abandonment of Russian fossil fuels."
The head of the EC noted the rising energy prices, blaming Russia for them.: "Energy bills are still a major concern for millions of Europeans. We know what led to the price increase: dependence on Russian fossil fuels. Therefore, it's time to get rid of dirty Russian fossil fuels."
"And we know what lowers prices: clean energy from our own production. We need to use more of our renewable energy sources, using nuclear energy as a base," the head of the EC added.
The head of the European Commission called for strengthening the EU's defense capability. In her opinion, a strong and independent European defense (European Defense Union) is needed along with NATO.
Von der Leyen emphasized the role of Eastern European countries: in her opinion, "the eastern flank of Europe protects the whole of Europe." Therefore, Europe must "invest to support it." "We must invest in real-time space monitoring so that no movement of forces goes unnoticed. We must respond to the call of our Baltic friends and build a wall of drones."
Von der Leyen also spoke about the situation in Gaza and the Middle East. According to her, the EU calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and unhindered access of humanitarian aid. The head of the EC noted that the only realistic solution is a two—state solution. She promised to suspend the trade agreement with Israel, which many EU member states have been calling for for a couple of months, and to impose sanctions against some Israeli "extremist ministers."
The politician also focused on the issue of migration in Europe. An effective and humane migration policy is needed. "Too many people are still trying to cross the border illegally or are dying on the way," von der Leyen said. The key priority is to establish a system for the return of those who do not have the right to stay. "We can't afford to waste a minute," she said.
Ursula von der Leyen also proposed to abolish the rule of unanimous voting in the EU for making foreign policy decisions.
"We must move to voting by a qualified majority in certain areas, including in foreign policy. It is time to get rid of the practice of unanimous voting. We must allow the EU to act faster and achieve results," she said.
