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EU needs to learn the 'language of power', incoming chief says

Europe Materials 9 November 2019 02:03 (UTC +04:00)
The European Union can no longer rely on soft power to promote its interests
EU needs to learn the 'language of power', incoming chief says

The European Union can no longer rely on soft power to promote its interests and must develop more security “muscle” and policy focus on trade, incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday, Trend reports citing Reuters.

In a speech on the state of Europe, von der Leyen stressed the EU’s strengths as a bastion of openness and democracy in a troubled world and said Brexit had forged a tighter group out of the remaining members of the bloc.

“We must go our own European way with confidence,” she said in Berlin. But she added: “Soft power alone won’t suffice today if we Europeans want to assert ourselves in the world. Europe must also learn the language of power.”

“That means on the one hand developing our own muscles - where for a long time we could lean on others, for example in security policy. On the other hand, it means engaging our available power with more focus,” she added, pointing to trade ties with China.

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