(ANSA-AFP) - STRASBOURG, NOV 27 - EU chief Ursula von der
Leyen warned Wednesday that Europe has "no time to waste" to
boost its defences and competitiveness, as European lawmakers
prepared to greenlight her new executive to start work.
Addressing parliamentarians in Strasbourg, von der Leyen said
her team was ready to get to work immediately on rising to the
bloc's mounting challenges -- most urgently the Ukraine war
"raging at Europe's borders". Appealing for a massive defence
spending boost, she said, "We have no time to waste. And we must
be as ambitious as the threats are serious." From Russia's
invasion of Ukraine to war in the Middle East, the mounting
economic threat from China and the imminent return of Donald
Trump to the White House, the European Union has its hands full.
"Our freedom and sovereignty depend more than ever on our
economic strength. Our security depends on our ability to
compete, innovate and produce," von der Leyen told lawmakers.
(ANSA-AFP).
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
