Azernews.Az

Europe needs a new security strategy capable of responding to the realities of an emerging world order, AzerNEWS reports, citing European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as she said at the Munich Security Conference.

Speaking at the high-level gathering, von der Leyen stressed the urgency of reassessing how Europe deploys its full range of policy tools in an increasingly complex geopolitical environment.

“I believe we urgently need to rethink how we use our entire policy arsenal — trade, finance, standards, data, critical infrastructure, technology platforms, and information,” she noted. “Essentially, every policy we pursue in this new world order must have a clear security dimension.”

The European Commission chief emphasized that Europe must be prepared to act more decisively and proactively to defend its security interests. She argued that the continent should make stronger and more strategic use of its existing strengths.

“We need a new doctrine with a simple objective: to ensure that Europe can always defend its territory, its economy, its democracy, and its way of life,” von der Leyen added.

Her remarks come amid ongoing debates within the European Union over defense spending, strategic autonomy, and Europe’s role in an evolving global security landscape.