Von der Leyen wants to achieve "independence" from Europe

BrusselsUrsula von der Leyen is now saying it more clearly than ever: Neither autonomy nor reducing dependencies. The President of the European Commission has directly defended for the first time that It is necessary to build an "independent Europe", capable of protecting itself from the effects that the policies of the Donald Trump administration or the Xi Jinping regime may have. "Our next great cause must be the construction of an independent Europe," the German conservative insisted in a speech delivered this Thursday in Aachen, Germany, where she received the Charlemagne Prize, an award given to personalities working for the unification of Europe.

Although she did not make explicit reference to the United States, Russia, or China, Von der Leyen called for people not to be complacent and assume that the current "storm" will one day pass by as if nothing had happened. "It will not pass; everything will not go back to the way it was when the war is over, a tariff agreement is reached, and the next election produces a different result. It will not happen," warned the president of the European Commission, who has defended the EU as a refuge from the "unstable world."

Von der Leyen also criticized the new "geopolitical crosscurrents" and called for people not to "watch as mere spectators" the international order that "authoritarian powers" want to create, but to "take the reins" and "decide on the future" that the EU wants. And, on this point, she also expressed European pride and encouraged her fellow citizens to do the same. "It's time for Europe to rise again," the head of the EU executive harangued.

However, the German conservative has warned that the authoritarian drift also affects the European Union and, to combat it, she has proposed addressing head-on the issues that she believes are of greatest concern to the population, such as excessive bureaucracy, control of the entry of immigrants and, among others, high housing prices. In this sense, she advocated preventing the far right from appropriating criticism of the system, recalling that "defending only thestatus quo "democracy is not defended" and has claimed to be a "driver of change".

"The embodiment of the European spirit"

The Charlemagne Prize presentation was attended by the Spanish King, Felipe VI, who heaped praise on von der Leyen; the new German Chancellor, also a conservative, Friedrich Merz; and, among other leaders, the British Prime Minister, the Labour Party's Keir Starmer. "She is the embodiment of the European spirit," the Spanish monarch told the German leader. He affirmed that the head of the EU executive has "managed with great success" major challenges such as the pandemic, the energy crisis, high inflation, and especially the war in Ukraine. "We hope that, as in the past, a stronger Europe will emerge from this crisis," said the King of Spain.