Dear ladies and gentlemen,

It's a pleasure to be back in Copenhagen.

This gathering matters more than ever, because democracy is no longer the global norm.

Six years ago, democracy was overtaken by autocracy for the first time in 20 years.

Today, liberal democracy is the least common model in the world. 72% of people live in autocracies, the highest proportion since 1978.

For some time I have been reflecting on this topic. I want to share four key lessons with you today through the lens of my current role.

Lesson number one: Democracy is not instant gratification. Bold choices build democracy up.

I often think about democracy and autocracy as a relay race.

The autocrat jumps the gun, getting ahead early while the democrats are still deciding who does what.

But democrats, when they eventually move forward, can hand over the baton to fresh legs. Every team member contributes their skills and expertise. They cheer each other on.

As the saying goes, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

That's democracy in a nutshell—hard work that pays off.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Baltic countries built democracy from scratch, guided only by the memory of what their forebears had created.

They rooted out corruption, built strong institutions, and established robust legal systems. This required a massive turnaround in attitudes and identity.

I was recently in the Western Balkans, where countries face many of the same choices the Baltics made in their reforms to join the European Union.

EU membership is a pathway to consolidating democracy. And the rewards don't come overnight.

Yet democracy creates long-term prosperity, protects individual rights, guarantees freedom, and leads to peace.

Lesson number two: Democracies need hard defence.

Treaties alone never guarantee peace.

Georgia learned this in 2008.

Ukraine learned it in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and now through three years of full-scale war from Russia.

We have the answer to the question of how to stop Russia’s historical cycle of aggression against democracies in our hands.

Strength deters aggressors. Weakness invites them in.

The strongest security guarantee is a strong Ukraine.

Kyiv cannot accept another Budapest Memorandum — words alone are never enough of a security guarantee.

That’s why the EU and its Member States are the biggest supporters of Ukraine’s military.

And why robust security guarantees must be part of any peace agreement in Ukraine.

And why last Friday, I also discussed with EU Foreign Ministers how to provide security guarantees.

Because the war will end. And once it ends, it must end for good.

To achieve that, we also need to increase pressure on Russia and strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield today.

Russia has asked for sanctions relief. We know the sanctions are working.

Last week, we proposed a 17th sanctions package.

We also set a 2027 deadline to sever energy ties with Russia. Europeans will deprive them of the means to hold us hostage over our energy ever again.

And we've just made available 1 billion EUR for Ukraine's defence industry to support Ukrainian companies and secure additional military aid.

Peace has never been free.

The peace dividend is a myth.

We must invest in defence during peacetime to protect peace, our values, our democracy.

This is why the European Union is pulling every financial lever to strengthen European defence.

With the new REARM Europe plan, we will be able to mobilise up to 800 billion euro.

When the EU acts together we have a huge amount of strength.

It is time we transfer our economic might to military power.

Lesson number three: our adversaries are always ready to exploit divisions in our democracies.

Democracies run on disagreements.

As George Orwell wrote, "if liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

In a democracy, we base our disagreements on facts.

But we're right back in an age of untruth. Fact checking has fallen out of fashion.

We form opinions and debate based on data. Policymakers take decisions based on data. Fact-checkers provide data.

Wherever there is massive public communication—including social media—we need fact checkers.

Otherwise, we only leave the door wide open to exploitation.

A second major problem is that foreign actors deliberately muddy the waters to exploit divisions.

It's a hybrid warfare tactic that often accompanies hot war—this is Russia's playbook.

And Russia, China, Iran, as well as others, operate massive military campaigns specifically to manipulate information spaces in democracies worldwide.

Last year alone, more than ninety countries were targets of attacks, from disinformation fuelling farmers' protests in Germany, to interference in presidential elections in Romania and Moldova.

The evidence of foreign interference is there for all to see.

The EU is fighting back by exposing these operations and sanctioning perpetrators. But we must do more.

This morning I met the young people who are part of the 2025 Alliance of Democracies Fellowship. And they are doing amazing things here.

Like OpenMinds, for example. They merge artificial and human intelligence to detect and help governments fight interference.

One of democracy's greatest privileges is participating in elections and choosing who we want to govern us, based on data.

If we truly want to defend our democratic space, we must fight foreign interference.

Lesson number four: it's never too late to protect democracy or rebuild it.

The role of independent media for democracy cannot be overstated.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a shining example. For countries under autocracy, it has long been a light in the dark.

Another of the fellows I met this morning runs a company whose work helps the public check the accuracy of what we read in the media. And this – media literacy – is equally important.

One of my objectives for the next long-term EU budget is to ensure the EU remains a reliable partner to protect free media and quality press globally.

This is especially important when Russia and China buy up media – including in Africa – only to control the narrative.

If you pull funding for independent media, you only help those who want to destroy democracy. One cannot exist without the other.

It is also deeply troubling that some countries are now labelling individuals or organisations who receive foreign funding as acting on behalf of foreign interests.

The result is simply a shrinking civic space and therefore a shrinking possibility for democracy to thrive.

Despite rising autocracy, democratic openings still persist.

Opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema won presidential elections in Zambia in 2021.

Last year, Sri Lankans voted out an autocratic leader. Protesters toppled a dictatorship in Bangladesh.

The fall of the Assad regime offers Syrians a chance to rebuild a country where every voice counts.

We must seize these openings.

Before Moldova's elections, the EU worked with digital platforms including TikTok to combat disinformation and helped Moldova enact legislation to regulate its digital space.

I want us to continue this work.

Even from the ashes of war, democracy can rise again. And for this, accountability is key.

Last week in Lviv, we formally established a Special Tribunal to try the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Accountability is how societies collectively grieve and move forward after unimaginable horror.

This was true after Nuremberg.

It will be true for Ukraine.

While others withdraw from responsibilities to uphold international law, the EU never will.

So let me sum up here.

We must fight for democracy. We cannot take it for granted.

Democracy is never a given, it is always a choice. We have to choose it every day. We have to be active citizens of our democracies.

Democracies have to defend themselves with hard power.

Because if we don’t, there are always others who will exploit our weaknesses.

We see the autocrats cutting the course, disabling opponents, or removing them altogether.

It’s up to us, to democracies, to defend the space and keep the race fair.

And opportunities for progress will always exist.

Because the will for freedom, choice, and democracy is an innate part of who we are as human beings.

Now more than ever, democracies must believe in their strength, defend themselves with hard power, andhold the spirit of victory.

Thank you.