The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday named the role of China among the list of threats to Europe. The head of the community executive spoke at the NATO headquarters in Brussels after the signing of the third joint declaration on EU-NATO cooperation.
The head of the community executive defended the reinforcement of transatlantic cooperation, stressing that “Europe’s security is on trial” and is facing unprecedented threats. Ursula von der Leyen believes that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is closer, but it is not an isolated threat.
“Russian threats and challenges are the most immediate, but they are not the only ones. We are also witnessing a growing attempt by China to redesign the international order to take advantage of it,” Von der Leyen said, arguing that “for this reason” it is necessary to “strengthen one’s own resilience.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks of innovative means challenging the stability of democracies, with “authoritarian actors challenging our interests, our values and democratic principles through military, but also political, economic and technological means” .
“China’s growing assertiveness and policies present challenges that we must face,” Stoltenberg stressed.
The European Union and NATO will therefore strengthen cooperation in the four areas of greatest urgency, namely “further intensifying the work to combat hybrid threats and cyber threats, as well as the fight against terrorism”, defended the head of the community executive, stressing that there is “very close cooperation, but we want to broaden and deepen it”.
Disruptive technologies and the space sector or climate change are other areas of cooperation between NATO and the European Union, which together also aim to be more resilient in the face of new threats.
“The resilience of our societies, against malicious foreign interference to manipulate information and the resilience of our critical infrastructures, against all kinds of attacks, is crucial,” Von der Leyen stressed, admitting that “the Nordstream sabotage showed that we must take more responsibility for the security of our network infrastructures”.
The joint declaration to strengthen cooperation between Brussels and NATO comes at a time when more and more voices within the European Union are warning about threats at the cyber level, through the use of the Chinese social network TikTok, as an instrument of espionage. and advertising
The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, is in Brussels on Tuesday to meet with the Vice President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of the main laws in the digital field. The company faces legal, regulatory and security problems.
Source: TSF
