Hello, everybody,

It is good to be here at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

It is my second time here. This is an extremely important topic because the fights that are going around in the world are not only about the things we see, but they are also about democracy.

It is about autocracies fighting democracies. We see autocracies on the rise. And, if we take Ukraine, for example, it is also that Russia did not or was not afraid that Ukraine would really invade Russia. They started this war because they saw democracy expanding to Ukraine. That means also coming closer to their borders.

Why is Putin afraid of this? It is because in democracy leaders are held responsible for their decisions. In democracy you can never get the vote from people to go and attack a neighbouring country.

Therefore, this is also something that we are discussing here today: how to protect democracies and how to support those who have chosen the way of democracy.

Q&A

Q. Is the EU preparing any Russia sanctions package beyond the 17^th package that is already on the table? If so, what would that [inaudible]?

Yes, we are constantly preparing different packages because we need to put more pressure on Russia to stop this war. And we have the tools - the economic tools - to pressure them. We are working on the 17^th package. I hope that we get this adopted on the FAC that we have next week. Then, we are working on the next package. There were also calls from different Member States to mirror what is discussed in America and Senator Lindsey Graham’s package for sanctions, [and] to do something similar in Europe – but of course we are not there yet.

Q. It is not possible to add more sanctions but also to enhance enforcement, to prevent circumvention and [inaudible]?

Absolutely. Circumvention of sanctions is a big problem and that is why we have already introduced criminal punishment for those who circumvent sanctions – because it is clear that it is European companies that want to still benefit from Russia. These are the same people very often that are complaining about why this war is still going on. The war is still going on because we have not done enough and we have not focused our efforts to do more, to really put pressure on Russia to stop this war. So, of course, we are also talking with those countries that are helping the circumvention of sanctions. But we also need to look within ourselves, because it is European companies that want to still buy and sell to Russia.

Q. Are you optimistic that you can proceed hand in hand with the US administration on Ukraine or do you think Europe has to move on more independently?

We have been discussing what we are going to do and, of course, we are hoping that America also sees what this fight is about and that America is supporting Ukraine as well. Of course, we want to get to a peace agreement, and we want to get peace. I think [nobody] wants peace more than the Ukrainians. But, in order to get there, we need to put pressure on Russia because it takes two to want peace, it only takes one to want war and Russia clearly wants war. I think the package of sanctions that they are preparing in the [US] Senate is a good example that they see this picture in a similar way.

Q. Do you think that Russia is really willing to [inaudible] peace talks? Because [inaudible] Putin [inaudible].

I do not think they are interested in peace. And why? Because they are still bombing Ukraine. If they would be interested in peace, they could stop right now. It has been over two months since Ukraine agreed to [an] unconditional ceasefire. We have seen from Russia that they are playing games. So, Russia is clearly playing games, trying to find time, hoping that the time is on their side. We have not seen any good efforts or good signs from their side.

Q. How can we increase air defence in Ukraine?

Air Defence is something that Ukrainians always ask because it is protecting the civilians. We were just there on the 9^th of May, on Friday, in Ukraine. We saw a lot of people who had suffered because of missile strikes, because of the attacks by the Russians. It is very clear that attacking civilians or civilian infrastructure is against humanitarian law. So, it should not be happening, but it is happening and therefore it is needed, the air defence. We have some countries who have the air defence [equipment] that they could also give. We are trying to talk to them to give more to Ukraine, in order to really protect them from those attacks that are still going on.