In her first major speech since being re-elected to office, Ursula von der Leyen attacked politicians who blame the war “not on Putin’s lust for power but on Ukraine’s thirst for freedom”.
Peace can never mean surrender and sovereignty can never mean occupation, Ursula von der Leyen said in a fresh rebuke to those pressuring Ukraine to accept a deal with Russia that would likely involve giving up parts of its territory.
‘Peace is not a given’
Warning that “peace cannot be taken for granted”, the European Commission president urged her fellow leaders to reject misleading narratives that blur lines, reverse roles and ignore responsibility for the invasion, now in its third year with no resolution in sight.
“Today, some politicians within the Union, and even in this part of Europe, are muddying the waters. They blame the war not on the invader, but on the invaded; not on Putin’s lust for power, but on Ukraine’s thirst for freedom,” he said Friday, speaking at the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague.
So I want to ask those who reverse the roles: would you ever blame the Hungarians for the Soviet invasion of 1956? Would you ever blame the Czechs for the Soviet repression of 1968?
The answer to this question is very clear: the Kremlin’s behavior back then was illegal and atrocious. And the Kremlin’s behavior is still illegal and atrocious today
Although he was not mentioned by name, one of the main recipients of von der Leyen’s warning was Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister who stirred up controversy last month with his unannounced trip to Moscow to discuss ways to end the war.
Putin welcomed Orbán as a representative of the European Union, even though the prime minister does not have a mandate to speak on behalf of the 27-member bloc.
The visit sparked a boycott of Hungary’s six-month presidency of the EU Council, which began on July 1. Von der Leyen ordered her commissioners to stick to a no-show policy and not attend meetings in Budapest. Later, in her re-election speech to the European Parliament, she denounced the so-called “peace mission” on Russian soil.
“Those who say no to military supplies to Kiev are not in favor of peace”
The EU Commission president reiterated on Friday, arguing that those who oppose military supplies to Kiev are not in favor of peace, but rather “acquiescence and subjugation.”
Armed with his veto power, Orbán has repeatedly thwarted the bloc’s efforts to provide further military assistance to the war-torn nation. Today, Brussels has €6.5 billion completely paralyzed by Hungary’s opposition.
We Europeans may have different histories. We may speak different languages, but in no language is peace synonymous with surrender. In no language is sovereignty synonymous with occupation.
“My position is that peace is not simply the absence of war. Peace is an agreement that makes war impossible and unnecessary,” she added, stressing that Ukraine’s integration into the European Union should be “at the heart of our peace effort”.
Orbán also questioned Ukraine’s EU aspirations. His MEPs said that no chapter of the accession process would be opened during the country’s presidency.
“We Europeans must be on guard”
In her speech, von der Leyen spoke extensively of the imperative need to strengthen the EU’s defence capabilities, long neglected in the post-Cold War illusion that “peace had been achieved once and for all” and that Putin would eventually choose economic prosperity over “his illusory dream of empire”.
“Today we cannot afford any more illusions,” she said.
“The second half of the decade will be a high-risk one. The war against Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East have put geopolitics in crisis. Tensions are high in the Far East too,” she continued. “We Europeans must be on our guard.”
In a telling sign of how times have changed, the Commission president said the EU, founded on the ashes of the Second World War as a peace project, should be seen as “intrinsically a security project” and called for a “systematic review” of the bloc’s defense policy.
Von der Leyen’s second-term proposals
The president’s guidelines for her second term leave no doubt that defense will be a top priority in the coming years.
Von der Leyen also intends to appoint a defense commissioner, although it is unclear how much actual power the new post will have, given the limits set by the EU treaties, which leave defense firmly in the hands of member states.
“Even if Europeans take the current security threats seriously, it will take time and massive investment to restructure our defense industries,” she said. “Our goal must be to build a defense production of continent-wide dimensions.”
US support for Ukraine
The president, a strong supporter of the transatlantic alliance, emphasized the importance of American support for Ukraine, which Brussels fears could evaporate if Donald Trump wins the presidential elections in November. If Washington were to withdraw, it would be physically impossible for Europe to fill the enormous void.
“I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the United States’ support for Ukraine since the beginning of this war. Once again, America has defended the freedom of all Europeans. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for that, but also a deep sense of responsibility,” he said.
But, he added, “protecting Europe is first and foremost Europe’s duty.”
This article is originally published on it.euronews.com
