Brussels - London: Europe and the Arabs
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in remarks from London, in the presence of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, "We are friends, we are Europeans, and we have common visions. We share the same interests and values. We face the same challenges, but we also complement each other in defending our democracies."
In her speech, published by the Commission in Brussels through a statement, she highlighted three topics. The first is security and defense, and the Ukraine issue. She said, "We strongly support peace efforts, but from the beginning, we have consistently emphasized the importance of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity being non-negotiable. From the beginning, we have supported Ukraine together, and we will continue to do so. On the other hand, we believe that Europe must simultaneously increase its defense spending. I very much welcome the recent announcement by a large number of countries of significant increases in their defense spending.
Bilaterally, we are working on a strategic partnership agreement on security and defense, which could pave the way for joint procurement and the United Kingdom's participation in our SAFE program.
I am very pleased with the energy conference we held in London, and it was Excellent. In fact, we discussed that the North Sea has enormous potential to become a clean energy hub.
For many years, investors have been waiting to start their projects. What they need is regulatory consistency and predictability. This is something we can achieve together.
The third topic is migration. We share the same goal. We have always fulfilled our international obligations. We have done so in the past, we do so today, and we will do so tomorrow. But we Europeans decide who comes to Europe and under what conditions—not smugglers and traffickers.
So, there is much we should discuss together in the run-up to our summit. It is an excellent step towards that.
During her talks in London, the EU-UK cooperation on global issues, bilateral relations, and the first EU-UK summit, scheduled for May this year, were discussed.
Then, the President participated in the Future of Energy Security Summit, organized by the International Energy Agency and hosted by the UK. The summit discussed the geopolitical and economic factors affecting international energy security and addressed solutions such as the growth of clean energy technologies and their supply chains. During the summit, President von der Leyen delivered a keynote speech, highlighting Europe's efforts to promote reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy and the role of international partnerships in this area.