**Brussels**: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlights Europe’s expanding global partnerships, challenges traditional notions of the West, and signals moves to ensure uninterrupted EU-US trade and reconsider EU gas contracts with Russia amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
In a recent interview with the German publication Zeit, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, discussed a range of topics including shifts in global customs policies, her vision for Europe during her new term, the ongoing conflict involving the Russian Federation in Ukraine, and the status of arms supplies. Notably, she challenged the traditional understanding of the concept of the “West,” suggesting that its conventional perception holds limited significance in today’s global context.
Von der Leyen initially refrained from answering whether she perceives herself as the “new leader of the Western world.” Instead, she emphasised Europe’s, and by extension the European Union’s, role as a key guarantor of Western values on the international stage. She articulated that the concept of the West, as it was once known, no longer adequately describes the current geopolitical landscape. “The world has become a globe in the geopolitical sense as well, and today our networks of friendship span the entire globe, as you can see from the example of the tariff debates,” she stated.
Highlighting the expansion of Europe’s international partnerships, von der Leyen cited countries across multiple continents including Iceland, New Zealand, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, and various nations in South America as examples of states seeking cooperation with Europe to establish a new global order. She remarked that there is considerable desire among these countries to organise trade relations with Europe, not merely on economic grounds but also with a focus on “establishing common rules and predictability.”
“Europe is known for its predictability and reliability, which is again beginning to be seen as something very valuable. On the one hand, this is very gratifying, and on the other hand, it is, of course, a huge responsibility that we must fulfil,” von der Leyen explained.
In addition to these remarks, von der Leyen recently expressed willingness to negotiate with the United States to ensure uninterrupted trade between the EU and the US. In a related development, the European Commission is currently investigating legal mechanisms that would allow European Union companies to terminate long-term gas contracts with Russia without incurring substantial penalties.
These statements and initiatives come amid ongoing geopolitical tensions attributed to the Russian Federation’s actions in Ukraine and broader international alignments. The evolving trade and diplomatic strategies emphasised by the European Commission President reflect a broader attempt to navigate these complexities while reinforcing Europe’s global role.
The publication Оперативні новини України та Світу, with reference to Zeit, reports these developments.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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