As she stressed in her Thursday morning State of the World address, the EU reaffirms its solidarity with Ukraine and European partners threatened by Russia, and underlined that Europe wants dialogue but will respond with sanctions if actions against Ukraine continue.
"We want any conflicts to be resolved in the bodies set up for that purpose," President von der Leyen said."
"However, if the situation deteriorates, if there are further attacks on Ukraine's territorial integrity, we will respond with massive economic and financial sanctions. The transatlantic community is firm on this issue," she added. Von der Leyen referred to the soaring gas prices and noted that the current crisis "should help accelerate the transition to clean energy and provide the impetus we need to further integrate our energy market."
"We need to ensure that there are no energy islands or regions of Europe that are cut off from our grid, focus on protecting those most affected and ensure that we have the reliable suppliers we need," the Commission President said. Von der Leyen also referred to the importance of trust in democracy, but also trust in science and vaccines, trust in the rule of law and trust between states to work well together as the basis for the global recovery from the pandemic.
President von der Leyen stressed that "the pandemic has shown that democracies are the strongest, most resilient and most sustainable form of governance" and pointed out that the work of the European scientists who developed the mRNA vaccines was made possible by European values: freedom of research, freedom of science and independent choice for investors.
Ursula von der Leyen also addressed the issue of semiconductors and microcircuits, underlining the need for investment in the development, production and use of this key technology.
"By 2030, 20% of global microchip production should take place in Europe. There is no time to lose. We will propose the European law on microchips in early February," he said."
Source: CNA
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