Check against delivery! 

Today we are going to talk about firstly Ukraine and then Europe in the world.

On Ukraine, we have to talk about how we can support Ukraine more.

Zelenskyy's meetings here [in Brussels] are also about how we can provide more support to Ukraine. Any push for negotiations too soon will actually be a bad deal for Ukraine.

All the other actors in the world are carefully watching how we act in this case – therefore, we really need to be strong.

Syria shows us that Russia is not invincible – and we should not underestimate our own power.

Then, the second topic is very wide, it is Europe in the world.

There, I think it is important to understand that we are a great power, and if we want to be a geopolitical power, we need to act in a united way. Then, we are strong. Then, we are also serious on the world stage. 

Everybody is also looking at us in these developments that are going on in the world.

We see this struggle between the forces that want to have the world order where ‘might makes right’. We see on the other side the European Union with its allies where we have a rule of law and we want to have a world that is rules-based.

It is not that those who have the power can just take what they want. It is a real struggle, and therefore we have to [stand] together.

We see the actors Russia, Iran, North Korea acting very clearly together in terms of military power. We see also China more covertly using the economic clout that they have against us.

Europe also should not underestimate our own power. We are a great power if we act together.

Q&A

Q. [inaudible]

Europe has been the biggest provider of aid, and we continue to be so. Of course, we work together with our United States allies to convince [others] why helping Ukraine is not charity, but actually investment to their own security and the global security. Of course, we are discussing amongst ourselves what more can we do – for Ukraine but also for our own defence. These are hard discussions, because they need financing, and they need difficult decisions [to be taken].

Thank you.

Watch the video