Europe Asia News

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that Europe must “transform the way it thinks and acts” in order to confront the challenges posed by a rapidly changing world order.

Stating that Europe must recognize that “we are now living in a world defined by brute force,” von der Leyen added that “in this increasingly lawless world, Europe needs its own levers of power” and must abandon its “traditional caution” in order to increase its economic strength and become more independent.

Addressing the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, von der Leyen warned that the United States’ threat of imposing tariffs on EU partners over Greenland could push relations into a “dangerous downward spiral” and “further embolden enemies whom we are determined to keep out of the strategic sphere.”

Von der Leyen said: “Greenland is not just a piece of land in a key region of the world map, a territory rich in critical raw materials, or a strategic outpost on emerging global sea routes. It is all of these, but above all, Greenland is home to a free and sovereign people. It is a nation with the right to sovereignty and territorial integrity, and only Greenlanders will decide Greenland’s future.”