Vitaly Saenko17:19, 16.09.26

The focus must be on the security of the entire continent.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasizes the importance of urgent changes to more quickly respond to new hybrid threats . In this regard, she proposes creating a European Security Council and involving, along with EU countries, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Canada.

The head of the European Commission announced this during a speech in the European Parliament.

“We discussed a leadership-level format dedicated to the security of our continent with partners such as Canada, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Norway, and other interested countries,” von der Leyen emphasized.

In her opinion, given the current nature and scale of existing risks, the creation of such a format is now an even more urgent task.

“That’s why we will formulate our ideas to make the European Security Council a reality. The urgency of this task is obvious,” von der Leyen emphasized.

Urgent threats that require immediate response

As the President of the European Commission explained, Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine continues, but threats against EU member states also continue to mount. In particular, Russian intelligence services are involved in these actions. For example, she cited the attempted drone attack on Leipzig Airport in Germany as evidence.

“We must have no illusions about what is happening. Europe is facing hybrid threats,” von der Leyen said.

According to her, cyberattacks, sabotage, arson, and drone intrusions into EU airspace are increasing every day.

“Therefore, as the threat level increases, so must Europe’s preparedness. That is why I will propose, together with the High Representative of the European Union, a new European Security Strategy,” the President of the European Commission said.

The European Union is failing to keep up with the development of the new reality

She also noted that the European Union already has many tools and is strengthening cooperation with NATO.

“But our doctrine, our institutions, and our decision-making processes have not kept pace with the new reality. Our systems were built for a different world. They are based on good-natured attempts to achieve consensus and compromise, but we must consider whether they are still fit for purpose,” von der Leyen said.

In her opinion, Europe needs its own set of rules to counter hybrid threats, and also urgently needs unanimity on how to respond to specific incidents that, although not considered armed aggression, threaten national security.

Europe needs to introduce and activate its own emergency safety protocol

In other words, as the President of the European Commission explained, we are talking about introducing our own mechanism at the EU level that would reflect the essence of the “fourth article” of the NATO Treaty, whereby any member country can convene a meeting in the event of a threat to its security or territorial integrity.

“I believe the time has come for Europe’s own ‘Article Four’ – an emergency protocol on security matters. If this is initiated by one member state, all member states must come together to coordinate a European response to contain further escalation and mitigate the consequences,” von der Leyen said.

Russia threatens Europe

As UNIAN reported, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, the instigator of the war against Ukraine, recently issued a new series of threats against Europe . Specifically, he claimed that the introduction of European troops into Ukrainian territory would allegedly mean war with Russia.

As is well known, Ukraine seeks reliable and long-term security guarantees, which should include the creation of a contingent of foreign troops and their deployment on Ukrainian territory if a peace agreement is reached with Russia.

At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov threatened Europe that its war with Russia, if it begins, will be “very short.”

(C)UNIAN 2026