Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said the world was “watching in disbelief” in the wake of the largest created of troops in Europe since the “darkest days of the Cold War”.
“The real reason why the European Union was created once is because we wanted to put an end to all European wars,” von der Leyen said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
The world watched in amazement as we faced the largest build-up of troops on European soil since the darkest days of the Cold War,” von der Leyen continued.
She added that the events “could reshape the entire international system.”
Highlighting Ukraine’s recent celebration of 30 years of independence, von der Leyen said there is an entire generation of Ukrainians born and raised in a free country who “now on a daily basis face aggression and outside interference”.
“This is what the Kremlin’s policies mean in practice, to incite fear and call it security, and demand that 44 million Ukrainians be deprived of freely deciding their future, and a free state is deprived of its right to independence and self-determination,” she added.
“The implications of this approach are significant outside Ukraine.”
talk about Russia and Chinasaid von der Leyen, “They are seeking a new era, they say, to replace the existing international rules.”
They prefer the rule of the strongest to the rule of law, intimidation, self-determination, and coercion to cooperate.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Moscow is trying to roll back and recreate history Perimeter effect.
“The current crisis demonstrates the importance of the transatlantic relationship to European security,” Stoltenberg said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
“If the Kremlin’s goal is to reduce the number of NATO on its borders, it will only get more NATO and if it wants to violate them, it will always get a more united alliance,” Stoltenberg said, noting earlier that NATO was a defensive alliance and “will take all necessary measures.” for protection and defence.
“Over the past years, our security environment has fundamentally changed for the worse. Peace cannot be taken for granted. Freedom and democracy are competitive and strategic competition is increasing.”
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