Central Europe to play key role in EU defence, says von der Leyen
The President of the European Commission's comments come ahead of the expected appointment of a European Commissioner for Defence.
Category
đ
NewsTranscript
00:00Von der Leyen said Central Europe will play a crucial role in the push for a European
00:05defence sector ahead of the expected appointment of a European Commissioner for Defence.
00:11At an international security conference held in Prague, Von der Leyen said the EU hadn't
00:16done enough to boost arms production in the face of threats.
00:20We Europeans must be on guard.
00:24We must refocus our attention on the security dimension of everything we do.
00:30We must think about our Union as intrinsically a security project.
00:37And Central Europe has a crucial role to play.
00:44During the conference, Von der Leyen said a systematic overhaul of Europe's defence
00:48was necessary as the European Union develops continent-sized defence output.
00:56Protecting Europe is first and foremost Europe's duty, said Von der Leyen, adding that while
01:00NATO must remain the centre of defence, a stronger European pillar was needed.