© Thomas Kienzele
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, this Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.
Russia seeks to “rewrite the rules of the international order”, accused the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, this Saturday, while Western leaders accuse Moscow of wanting to invade Ukraine. “We can’t let this happen,” she told the Munich Security Conference. The escalation of recent weeks in Ukraine, where Westerners fear an attack from Russia, might, according to her, “reshape the whole international order”.
The Russian troops massed on the borders of Ukraine constitute “the largest deployment […] on European soil since the darkest days of the Cold War”. An attack by Ukraine might cost Russia “a prosperous future”, she also warned in reference to the sanctions that would result.
She also denounced an alliance between China and Russia to impose “the law of the strongest”. “For the first time, Beijing joins Moscow in asking NATO not to admit any more new members”, echoed the organisation’s general secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, who shared the podium with her. “This is an attempt to control the destiny of free nations, rewrite international rules and impose their own authoritarian models of governance.” He also reaffirmed this Saturday the commitment “steadfast” members of the alliance to protect each other, warning Russia that it would only obtain “no more NATO” if she was looking for “less NATO” at its borders.
“Moscow is trying to roll back history and recreate its sphere of influence,” he charged. Corn “We are all NATO allies, we are one and we will always do what is necessary to protect and defend each other”.
