“Europe is fighting for peace, for freedom and for the ability to determine its own destiny. This is a fight for our future“, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament today, BTA reports.
“Europeans are not used to being spoken in such words because the EU was created as a peace project, but the truth is that the world today is ruthless“, she added during the first plenary session of the EP of the new political season.
In her words, people feel how “the ground is shaking under their feet“, how everyday life is becoming more difficult due to the rising cost of living and the impact of the global crisis. She also noted the endless series of events we see on the news – from the scenes of devastation in Gaza to the relentless Russian shelling of Ukraine. “We simply cannot wait for this storm to pass,” von der Leyen said.
“Europe must fight. For its place in a world in which many great powers are either ambivalent or openly hostile to it – a world of imperial ambitions and imperial wars, a world in which dependencies are ruthlessly weaponized. And it is for all these reasons that a new Europe must emerge,” she stressed to MEPs in Strasbourg.