By LORNE COOK, Related Press
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s strongest official warned Wednesday that Europe is battling in opposition to a sequence of threats posed by Russia, new world commerce challenges and even different main world powers and should stake declare to its independence.
In a State of the Union speech, European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen introduced new measures to assist Ukraine combat off Russia’s full-scale invasion, and he or she known as for commerce restrictions and sanctions on Israel over the conflict in Gaza.
She additionally defended the deal she reached with U.S. President Donald Trump to restrict the affect of his world tariff conflict, regardless of agreeing to a 15% responsibility charge for many European exports to the USA.
Struggle for values
“Europe is in a combat,” von der Leyen advised EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. “A combat for our values and our democracies. A combat for our liberty and our capability to find out our future for ourselves. Make no mistake — this can be a combat for our future.”
“Battle traces for a brand new world order primarily based on energy are being drawn proper now,” she stated, including that the EU “should combat for its place in a world wherein many main powers are both ambivalent or overtly hostile to Europe.”
“This have to be Europe’s independence second,” stated the 66-year-old former German protection minister, who has grow to be a outstanding determine at summits with leaders all over the world, regardless of her position as a political appointee who hasn’t been elected to workplace.
The fee is the EU’s government arm. It proposes legal guidelines that affect the lives of round 450 million individuals throughout 27 nations, and displays whether or not these guidelines are revered.
Lately, it has helped Europe to outlive fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, break its dependency on Russian vitality provides and address a commerce conflict launched by a standard ally just like the U.S.
Russian aggression
Turning to Russia’s conflict on Ukraine, now in its fourth yr, von der Leyen stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin exhibits no signal of ending the conflict, and that “our response have to be clear too.”
“We’d like extra strain on Russia to return to the negotiation desk. We’d like extra sanctions,” she stated. The fee and EU member nations are engaged on a brand new raft of sanctions concentrating on Russia’s vitality revenues.
Poland stated Wednesday that a number of Russian drones entered its territory over the course of a number of hours and have been shot down with assist from NATO allies.
Von der Leyen condemned the “reckless and unprecedented violation of Poland and Europe’s airspace.”
“Europe stands in full solidarity with Poland,” she stated. “Putin’s message is obvious, and our response have to be clear, too. We’d like extra strain on Russia to return to the negotiation desk. We’d like extra sanctions.”
Ukraine’s financial system
Von der Leyen additionally stated that new methods to deal with Ukraine’s monetary challenges should additionally come via using frozen Russian property in Europe. Nearly $235 billion value of these property are being held in a Belgian clearing home.
Curiosity earned on the property – round $4.1 billion have been generated final yr – are already getting used to assist prop up Ukraine’s war-ravaged financial system. Von der Leyen stated {that a} “reparations mortgage” for harm inflicted by Russia is being weighed.
She additionally introduced the creation of a “drone alliance” with Ukraine – drones have grow to be a decisive issue within the conflict – with $7 billion in funds for the trouble.
Freezing help to Israel
To applause within the parliament, the fee chief stated that she desires to freeze some monetary help to Israel, and to impose commerce restrictions and sanctions on the federal government over the conflict in Gaza.
Breaking together with her historically very sturdy pro-Israeli authorities stance, von der Leyen stated that the occasions in Gaza and the struggling of kids and households “has shaken the conscience of the world.”
“Man-made famine can by no means be a weapon of conflict. For the sake of the youngsters, for the sake of humanity. This should cease,” she stated. She added that the fee will arrange a brand new Palestinian donor group, with a give attention to Gaza’s future reconstruction.
U.S. tariff deal
Addressing criticism of the tariff take care of Trump, von der Leyen underlined that Europe is determined by the USA as a serious buying and selling companion, and that the place of European companies was improved in comparison with different nations that obtained a worse deal.
“Tens of millions of jobs depend upon” that relationship, she stated. “And as president of the fee, I’ll by no means gamble with individuals’s jobs and livelihoods.”
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