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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered a speech on the State of the European Union, reflecting on the complex challenges facing the bloc and urging member states to defend shared European values against disinformation, Russian interference, and ultranationalist movements.
Statement by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
«It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. This is how Charles Dickens describes Europe in the days of the French Revolution. And it is also a fair description of the world we live in. The speed of change is incredible, the challenges exceptional. So if I look at Europe today, I would say: the state of our Union is the strongest it has ever been; the state of our Union can also feel as precarious as it has ever been. These two statements may seem incompatible, but they are both true. And they reflect these exceptional times. This complex age of on one hand great possibilities and on the other hand great perils, which all countries are seeking to navigate. And whether that is the ultranationalists or the anti-European, whether it’s Russian interference or disinformation, the names may be different, but their goal is the same: they despise our values, and they want to shatter our European unity. So let’s not only fight back against that, but let’s fight together for our European idea.»