Ursula von der Leyen Told about the Need for Dialogue with Moscow out of a Position of Strength

“The Kremlin does not forgive weaknesses”, said the German Defense Minister nominated to be the next president of the European Commission. Moscow’s actions in Ukraine are contrary to international law, said Ursula von der Leyen. Europe should engage in a dialogue with Russia “from a position of strength”, said candidate for the European Commission presidency, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen. According to her, “the Kremlin does not forgive weaknesses”. The Minister added that Russia remains a neighbor of Europe, but stressed that Moscow’s actions in Ukraine are contrary to international law. In addition to Russian-European relations, the candidate for the post of head of the European Commission spoke on a number of other important topics for the European Union. Thus, von der Leyen advocated of a European army, but not for the “army of Europeans”. According to the German Defense Minister, decisions on “dangerous operations” need to be taken at the national level. The expansion of the number of Frontex employees In addition, von der Leyen called on the European Union to support the countries of origin of refugees to get rid of the reasons that encourage migrants to go to Europe. Among other things, the EU should fight the “cruel system” of human smuggling, the Minister said. According to her, plans to expand the number of personnel of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to 10 thousand people should be implemented not by 2027, but much earlier. DW