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Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary on strengthening European defence in a volatile geopolitical landscape

Speaker: President von der Leyen

Date: Feb 28, 2024 

Word count: 400

Link: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_24_1186

Glossary: X

Honourable Members,

In the last years, many European illusions have been shattered. The illusion that peace is permanent. The illusion that economic prosperity might matter more to Putin than destroying a free and democratic Ukraine. The illusion that Europe on its own was doing enough on security – be it economic or military, conventional or cyber. As we look around us, it is clear there is no room for any more illusions. Putin used the peace dividend to prepare for this war. As a result, the world is as dangerous as it has been for generations. Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine is now in its third year and is more entrenched and intense than ever.

We are seeing the potency and the dangers of a rising and disturbing league of authoritarians. North Korea is delivering order after order of ammunition shells to Russia. And Iran is providing attack drones, and crucially also the technology behind them, to inflict untold damage on Ukrainian cities and citizens. The continuing war in Gaza and the large scale destabilisation in the Middle East point to an era of insecurity and conflict in the region and beyond. And we are also seeing the continued rise of aggressive economic competition and distortion, which brings with it some very real European security risks. So, to put it bluntly, Europe has to wake up. And I would add: urgently. We all know there is so much at stake here – our freedom and our prosperity. And we have to start acting like it.

We need to start working on the future of the European security architecture. In all of its dimensions and with all of the speed and political will that is required. Because the truth is, we have not been living with conflict merely since 2022, but for far longer. The threats to our security, our prosperity and our way of life come in many different forms, and we all know them. Some of them are obvious, some of them are hazier on the surface. Be it tackling political interference reducing our dangerous dependencies – a policy I have called de-risking –or be it eliminating hostile actors from our critical infrastructure. We Europeans must be on guard. This is not just about defeating bullies on the battlefield but across all our society. The good news is: We have started a lot of that work already.