Speech by President Costa at the Munich Security Conference 2025
On 24 February 2022, the European Union changed.
On the very first day of the war in Ukraine, at 7 pm, European leaders gathered for an emergency meeting in Brussels and exchanged with President Zelenskyy. It was a very dramatic discussion. Russia’s tanks were on their way to Kyiv. Russia’s bombs were falling across Ukraine.
Before we ended our meeting, President Zelenskyy said that those were most probably his last moments alive. And I remember very well the clear sense in the room: this was the moment when a new geopolitical European Union was born. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine shook Europe’s security architecture to the core.
Together with our transatlantic allies, we acted immediately to support Ukraine’s sovereignty, self-determination and territorial integrity: with humanitarian aid, with economic assistance, with the toughest ever sanctions against Russia and with unprecedented military support. And, perhaps most importantly, with a clear sense of the future for Ukraine as a full member of the European Union.
Three years later Ukraine resists heroically, Putin failed in his attempt to dominate Ukraine and, as we all saw, President Zelenskyy is stronger than ever.
Today my message is clear. We are not giving up. We will continue to support Ukraine as an integral part of our project for peace.
Only Ukraine can define when there are conditions for negotiations. Assuming concessions before any negotiations is a huge mistake. Therefore, we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine: in the negotiations, providing security guarantees, in reconstruction and as future member of the European Union. This is the EU’s position and, as you heard, is also Ukraine’s position.
What does a comprehensive, just and lasting peace mean? It means that peace in Ukraine and Europe’s security cannot be separated. It means that we take into account that the Russian threat goes beyond Ukraine. Russia dominates Belarus. Russia has a military presence in Moldova and Georgia. Russia casts a shadow over the Baltic States, the European Union’s eastern border, our democratic systems our critical infrastructures. It means that a comprehensive peace cannot be a simple ceasefire. It cannot give Russia the opportunity to attack ever again. It cannot reward the aggressor. It must guarantee that Russia will no longer be a threat to Ukraine, to Europe, to its neighbours that Russia ceases to be a threat to international security.
In building this peace, the European Union will fully assume its responsibilities. In a nutshell, there will be no credible and successful negotiations no lasting peace without Ukraine and without the European Union.
The European Union after February 2022 is not the same as before. First, we sped up enlargement to the Western Balkans and opened negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Second, we decided to strengthen our energy security by decoupling from Russia, in a huge collective effort, in particular here in Germany under Olaf Scholz’s leadership. Third, less than a month after the beginning of the war, in Versailles, all Member States decided to effectively deliver on building the Europe of defence.
Our defence spending has risen by 30% since 2021. European Union countries that are in NATO now spend, on average, 2% on defence. Together we have reached the target. But we will do more. The European Union is a peace project by design. But we know that peace without defence is an illusion.
Two weeks ago, I brought together European Union leaders to provide political guidance to the European Commission and the High Representative on the capabilities we jointly need to build, on the mobilisation of more public and private funding and on strengthening our partnerships, namely with the United Kingdom and NATO. The Commission and the High Representative will present proposals next month, and I will keep defence at the top of the European Council’s agenda. This is the direction. This is our commitment.
The European Union is a reliable and predictable partner. A strong economic and powerful trade actor. And we are firmly committed to act better, stronger and faster in building the Europe of defence. Thank you.
Source – European Council
Speech by the High Representative Kaja Kallas receiving the Ewald von Kleist Award
But of course, today we are here in Munich, and after a very long day, or actually two very long days of meetings, I have very mixed feelings. So on one side, I’m truly honored and really humbled to receive this award. This means a lot. But on the other hand, I can’t help but feel that I don’t deserve it because the war is still going on.
The Ukrainians are still dying. Putin is still bombing Ukraine, and soon, in ten days time, we will mark the terrible anniversary of the war where the war is going on for a fourth year already. This didn’t happen overnight. The drums of war had been pounding since 2008, when Russia invaded Georgia, and then in 2014, Russia invaded Donbas and annexed Crimea.
This was followed by Russia using Syria as laboratory testing weapons and procedures, postures that it would later use for a full blown invasion in Ukraine in 2022. As I stand here in Munich tonight, I cannot help but ask, have we been here before? Czechoslovakia,1938. We have an aggressor at our door intent on taking the land that isn’t his. And the negotiators, not us, are already giving away their bargaining chips before the negotiations have even begun. This is a disastrous tactic. And we are heading for full speed towards disaster. But the times are different. Ukrainians will not surrender in silence. They are firm and they are not going to give up their freedom and territory. When I was a teenager, the West was at the height of its powers.
The West was fighting for freedom and democracy and all the values we stand for. And I was a teenager at the time, and we regained our independence because the West stood firm behind us and was pushing for this. And today, I feel that Europe is firm too. There are no Chamberlains or Daladiers in this room. We will keep supporting Ukraine in their fight, but we must feel the urgency and act faster.
Why is it taking so much time to understand that this war is not just about Ukraine’s sovereignty? It is about sovereignty of ours, our sovereignty. And this, I mean, in a global sense. Are we honestly doing enough to protect ourselves? If we were, I am convinced that the war would be over by now, and it would have been won by Ukraine already. The killing can stop anytime. Russia just needs to withdraw its troops. Russia needs to stop bombing Ukraine.
Russia is the aggressor here. I end every working day by asking myself, what have I done today to help Ukraine? Have I done enough? Really. Because in this fight for Europe’s future, for the very concept of freedom, for global security, Ukraine must prevail or we will all lose.
Dear friends, it is really, truly a privilege to receive von Kleist Award for 2025.
But as we enjoy this lovely gathering tonight here in Munich, our Ukrainian friends, are fighting for their lives. We must help them. So, with your permission, I humbly dedicate this award to the Ukrainians. Slava, Ukraine.
Source – EEAS
Remarks by Commissioner Dombrovskis at the Munich Security Conference
Munich, 15 February 2025
“Check against delivery”
Distinguished guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you for this invitation. It is a pleasure to join you again.
If there is one thing that every participant at this year’s conference can agree on, it is that we find ourselves in a rapidly changing world.
Old certainties, such as rules-based order, are being challenged.
Technological change is accelerating.
Trade tensions are rising.
Europe’s foundational values and security assumptions are being tested.
They are great and growing tests that we need to deal with.
We are living in a pivotal time.
As a starting point, before there is economic security, there is hard security.
Hard security is the fundamental basis for long-lasting stability and prosperity.
Without hard security, there can be no growth, no innovation, no social protection.
Since February 2022, Ukraine and its people have stood at Europe’s frontline, protecting also our people and values in the face of a vicious Russian onslaught.
It is clear to everyone: Ukraine is fighting both for themselves and for us.
There can be no economic stability and secure Europe without lasting peace in Ukraine.
And it is also clear, there can be no peace negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine.
No negotiations that sideline the very European countries on which these negotiations will cast the longest shadow.
The final outcome of the war will have profound and long-lasting impact on the security of the European continent, including that of NATO countries.
Any peace deal must be lasting and offer real security guarantees to Ukraine.
Supporting Ukraine is the soundest investment in our long-term prosperity and resilience that we can possibly make.
With regard to our financial support, we are broadly on track.
In January, the European Commission disbursed the first €3 billion tranche of its exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) loan for Ukraine.
This was the EU’s first disbursement to the G7-led Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loans initiative, which collectively aims to provide approximately €45 billion in financial support to Ukraine.
These loans will be repaid with proceeds from immobilised Russian State assets.
This means that Russia is itself paying for the destruction it is causing in Ukraine.
In total, the EU is expected to provide €18.1 billion to Ukraine under this instrument by the end of this year.
On the top of this, there is the Ukraine Facility for the period 2024-2028, where we aim to disburse €12.5 billion this year.
We are now at a decisive moment.
Democracies can work together to tame autocrats and tyrants.
Or we will see the decomposition of the global order as we knew it and ‘normalisation’ of tyrants and war criminals.
The return of the rule of might. Transactions replacing values.
Europe must recognise that the world has changed.
From disinformation to cyber-attacks to sabotage, the threats to Europe’s economies, people and way of life are real and imminent.
That is why we need to urgently and significantly enhance the resilience of our societies, but also act to fill in the gaps in our defence capabilities and boost our defence industry.
We must do it now, before it is too late.
Europe needs to fully set sail by mobilising an ambitious defence spending both at national and EU level.
In this context, the European Commission will publish the White Paper on the Future of Defence next month.
Today, our ability to preserve our security and protect our values depends more than ever on our economy’s capacity to adapt to and compete in this changing and complex world.
The good news is that the European economy has all of the fundamental assets needed to successfully compete in a changing global economy.
We have a well-educated and skilled workforce, a large pool of private capital, a stable and predictable legal environment, the rule of law, and strong social safety nets.
We also, of course, have one of the greatest achievements of the European Union: the Single Market.
While we have successfully navigated a period of significant challenges in recent years, demonstrating a remarkable degree of economic resilience, the EU continues to be confronted with significant structural challenges.
Europe has not kept pace with other major economies over the course of the last two decades, due to a persistent gap in productivity growth.
We can no longer afford to continue with business as usual.
Last year’s Draghi report provides a timely analysis of the competitiveness issues facing Europe and a blueprint of the policy action needed to overcome them.
The Commission has prioritised enhancing Europe’s competitiveness in this new mandate.
To this end, we have already presented our Competitiveness Compass that will guide our work on reigniting Europe’s economic dynamism over the next five years.
Part of the EU’s competitiveness agenda is reducing excessive dependencies and increasing our economic security.
It is in the interest of the EU and our partners that the European approach to economic security remains proportionate and targeted.
It also needs to be risk-based and pragmatic.
Currently we are accelerating our work across all four risk priorities identified in our Economic Security Strategy.
First, resilience of supply chains and energy security.
Second, critical infrastructure, which includes energy grids that the panel will discuss in a moment.
Third, technology leadership and challenges we face, as well as technology leakage.
The AI Summit just took place in Paris, and we will discuss AI further today.
AI is also driving a paradigm shift in security and defence.
These shifts are showcased also by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, where AI is used for autonomous systems, decision-making algorithms, and battlefield analytics.
So, we need to maintain leadership in technologies such as AI and quantum, while making sure that our technologies and intellectual property do not leak to regimes that will turn them against us.
The fourth and final category of risks is the weaponisation of economic dependencies and coercion, including in trade.
When it comes to trade, we deeply regret the recent decisions concerning tariffs.
We see no justification for the United States to impose tariffs on our exports.
This is especially true given the deeply integrated production chains, established through our extensive transatlantic trade and investment ties.
In 2023, transatlantic trade between the EU and the US exceeded €1.5 trillion. Together the EU and the US represent almost 30% of global trade.
So, there is lots at stake economically.
We are currently assessing the scope of the announced measures and will be ready to respond in a firm and proportionate way.
When it comes to China, our economic security strategy aims to maximise the benefits of openness, while minimising our strategic dependences and vulnerabilities.
In essence, we are focused on de-risking, not decoupling.
Both in the case of the US and China, and beyond, the European Union stands ready to assert its interests forcefully, but in a fair and proportionate way.
To conclude, Europe needs to decide if we wish to be players, or merely spectators in this new world.
We can emerge from this challenging period strong, secure and prosperous.
But that demands active action.
I am determined to play my part to ensure that we take such action.
Thank you very much.
Source – EU Commission