Quotes
What JD Vance was saying to Munich just the other day was a recognition that it is not for our governments to control our lives and in order to make sure that we have the freedom and liberties that we need to order our own lives and make our own decisions,
Hageman said
Today's democracies in Germany and Europe are founded on the historic awareness and realization that democracies can be destroyed by radical anti-democrats,
Scholz said this weekThe translation would be easier if more of these European leaders were more engaged in common sense,
he saidIt is important for European leaders to act collectively and avoid the ‘bilateralisation’ of their relationships with the US,
said Arnold – that is, to ensure that they do not end up in individual talks with Washington that might weaken their collective position
The danger is that if it is not properly thought out or resourced, or doesn’t have a proper command structure, it fails,
Arnold saidKemi: It’s time to get off our knees and start fighting for Western values
the Express covers a speech by the Tory leaderEurope’s security is at a turning point. Yes, it is about Ukraine – but it is also about us.”
That is the context for Keir Starmer’s pledge to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine as part of an international peacekeepingPresentationally it was certainly different,
Ed Arnold said
If we, Europeans, fail to spend big on defence now, we will be forced to spend 10 times more if we don’t prevent a wider war.”
Yesterday, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, whose country spends 4.7% of GDP on defence, said3 out of 4 OAPs living in cold homes
reports the Daily MailUkraine needs US safety pledges, PM to tell Trump
that’s the Times,I don’t know what they would do at the negotiating table,
he said
The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor. And what I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values,
Vance told delegates in Munich on Friday
The reality that returning to 2014 borders as part of a negotiated settlement is unlikely. The reality of U.S. troops in Ukraine is unlikely. The reality of Ukraine membership in NATO as a part of a negotiated settlement, unlikely,
Hegseth saidNow is the time to invest, because you can't make an assumption that America's presence will last forever,
Hegseth said in a Friday speech in WarsawIt is now very clear to us that we must continue to support Ukraine. And it must and can rely on us that this will be the case. We welcome the fact that there are talks on peace development, but it must be and is clear to us — this does not mean that there can be a dictated peace and that Ukraine must accept what is presented to it,
Scholz saidNow it’s crunch time to get this going — particularly in the short term, of course, in terms of not just maintaining but upping support for Ukraine, given it's very clear that the U.S. is not going to play a major role anymore in the way that it has under [former President Joe] Biden. But also for European defense and security in the medium to longer term, what that's going to look like? So, there are huge questions hanging over Europeans,
van Rij told VOAThat's going to be a really difficult thing for many Europeans who are operating in a fiscally very constrained space,
van Rij saidWe are witnessing tectonic shifts of the order structures and also of the positioning of major powers. We see that the United States wants to retreat from international organizations, so it is weakening structures of international order,
Schwarzer told Reuters.jpg)
Europe must play its role, and I'm prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others, if there is a lasting peace agreement. ... But there must be a U.S. backstop, because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again,
Starmer told reporters in Paris