Europe remains open to cooperation, we offer predictability and stability, said today the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference in Brussels, dedicated to the first hundred days of the new Commission under her leadership, writes BTA.
We have entered a new era of harsh geostrategic competition, everything has become a matter of a deal, the speed of change has increased and decisive and bold actions are needed. European values - democracy, freedom and the rule of law - are under threat, she added. According to her, in the last 100 days the world has been changing at the speed of light and geopolitical changes are shaking up previous alliances, decades of security are disappearing.
The United States has been our ally for over 80 years. We have different views on some issues, but our common interests are always stronger. We need to find common paths, Von der Leyen urged. We will meet with the US President when the time is right, she said.
Von der Leyen noted that Europe must increase military spending and take responsibility for its own security. According to her, the European Union and NATO will jointly determine where more investment should be made. It is important to complement each other with NATO, so far we have been coordinating our actions successfully, said the EC President.
According to Von der Leyen, there are unused opportunities for cooperation with the UK, Canada and Norway.
The EC President announced that next week the Commission will propose common rules for the return of migrants without the right to stay in the EU. Von der Leyen explained that the introduction of common rules, a European return order, as well as mutual recognition of return decisions between European countries is envisaged.