STRASBOURG, France, Jan 21 (Reuters) – The EU needs to speed up its push for independence to defend itself in a fast-changing world, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
“We are at a crossroads. Europe prefers dialogue and solutions – but we are fully prepared to act, if necessary, with unity, urgency and determination,” von der Leyen said in a speech in European Parliament.
“In this increasingly lawless world, Europe needs its own levers of power,” she said.
“We know them: A strong economy, a thriving single market and industrial base, a strong innovation and technology capacity, united societies and above a real capacity to defend ourselves.”
Von der Leyen said it was “more important than ever” to keep focusing on Ukraine, while the EU would work with the US and other partners to strengthen security in the Arctic region.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Lili Bayer, editing by Bart Meijer)
