EuroWire, BRUSSELS: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on March 9 that the European Union must be ready to project power more assertively because it can no longer rely on a rules-based international system to shield it from emerging threats. Speaking at a conference for EU ambassadors in Brussels, she said the bloc would continue to defend the rules-based system it helped build with allies, while acknowledging that Europe faces a more complex security environment than the one that shaped its postwar institutions.
Von der Leyen said Europe “can no longer rely on it as the only way to defend our interests or assume its rules will shelter us from the complex threats that we face.” She called for an urgent review of whether the EU’s doctrine, institutions and decision-making, designed for an era of stability and multilateralism, have kept pace with faster geopolitical change. She also questioned whether a system built around consensus and compromise is helping or hindering the EU’s credibility as a geopolitical actor.
Her remarks came as senior EU officials opened the annual EU Ambassadors Conference, held in Brussels from March 9 to March 13 under the theme “Advancing EU interests at a Turning Point.” The gathering brings together ambassadors from more than 145 EU delegations and offices worldwide, along with leaders of EU civilian and military missions and operations and senior envoys. The conference features interventions by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
Ambassadors gather in Brussels
In her keynote address at the conference, Kallas said the EU faces a deteriorating international landscape marked by the erosion of international law. She said the Middle East crisis and Russia’s war against Ukraine are linked by a broader breakdown in accountability. Kallas said the EU has provided 195 billion euros in support to Ukraine since 2022 and said a 90 billion euro loan package is in preparation. She also cited EU efforts targeting Russia’s “shadow fleet” and countering foreign interference and information manipulation.
Von der Leyen’s message to ambassadors focused on how the EU should organize itself to act with greater speed and clarity in external policy. She said Europe must evaluate whether its internal processes are fit for today’s challenges and whether the tools built for a postwar environment still deliver results in a world shaped by sharper rivalry and coercion. She reiterated that Europe would uphold international rules, while warning that relying on rules alone is not sufficient protection when threats evolve faster than institutions.
Regional crisis adds urgency
The Brussels conference opened as EU leaders intensified outreach to Middle East partners over the war in Iran and its spillover risks for European security and the global economy. Von der Leyen and Costa held a video conference on March 9 with leaders from Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Türkiye, Armenia, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman. They discussed developments in the conflict, including attacks on countries in the region and the impact on energy security, and they condemned what they described as indiscriminate attacks by Iran.
In a joint statement after the call, the two leaders thanked regional governments for helping repatriate tens of thousands of European citizens stranded when the war began. They also said the EU’s maritime defensive operations Aspides and Atalanta are aimed at protecting critical waterways and preventing disruptions to vital supply chains, and they signaled openness to tailoring and enhancing those operations. The statement expressed concern about the crisis’s impact on Lebanon and large-scale displacement, and von der Leyen announced the mobilization of ReliefEU stocks to support about 130,000 people in Lebanon, with a first flight planned for March 10. The conference is scheduled to continue through March 13 with panels and workshops on EU security, resilience and external policy.