PARIS (TASS): The European Union should develop its own proposals on European security and will deal with this in 2022, since no one should impose solutions on the EU in this area. This was stated on Friday by the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference with Fre-nch President Emmanuel Macron in connection with the beginning of the French presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will continue until June 30, 2022.
“It is very important for me to reflect on the architecture of European security during this presidency (France in the Council of the EU – TASS note). We will return in 2022 with our ideas on European security, with our architecture, which we must discuss and develop together. More Once I stress, there can be no decisions imposed on Europe in this area. Whatever the decision, it must be made with the participation of the EU,” said von der Leyen. She also stressed that NATO “must play a key role in this dialogue” and the leading EU countries are members of this organization.
The head of the Europe-an Commission also called for speeding up the creation of the EU Defense Union during the French presidency in the first half of 2022. “We need to work to build a defense alliance to prepare to face new challenges, such as hybrid attacks from different directions. Work on the EU Defense Alliance in 2022 will reach a new speed,” she said.
Von der Leyen stressed that this process should be accelerated after the adoption in March of the first EU defense concept, which will be called the “EU Strategic Compass”.
Dialogue with Russia
In her speech, von der Leyen spoke about European security only in general terms, never mentioning Russia and its latest initiatives on a new security system, which was what French journalists asked the head of the European Commission and the President of France.
In turn, Macron spoke in favor of a direct dialogue with Russia, stressing that this does not mean concessions to Moscow. He also acknowledged that Russia is an integral part of the European security system.
“I think that the European Union should conduct a dialogue with Russia. But dialogue does not mean making concessions. First of all, dialogue allows us to consider what is the subject of disagreements. We need a dialogue with Russia, which, by virtue of its geography and history, is an integral part of this European security architecture that we have to build, “the president said.
“France continues to exchange views with Russia. I have already had two very lengthy teleconferences with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, and new negotiations are coming in the coming days,” the French leader said.
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