Central Europe to play key role in EU defence, says von der Leyen

The President of the European Commission's comments come ahead of the expected appointment of a European Commissioner for Defence.

Transcript

00:00Von der Leyen said Central Europe will play a crucial role in the push for a European

00:05defence sector ahead of the expected appointment of a European Commissioner for Defence.

00:11At an international security conference held in Prague, Von der Leyen said the EU hadn't

00:16done enough to boost arms production in the face of threats.

00:20We Europeans must be on guard.

00:24We must refocus our attention on the security dimension of everything we do.

00:30We must think about our Union as intrinsically a security project.

00:37And Central Europe has a crucial role to play.

00:44During the conference, Von der Leyen said a systematic overhaul of Europe's defence

00:48was necessary as the European Union develops continent-sized defence output.

00:56Protecting Europe is first and foremost Europe's duty, said Von der Leyen, adding that while

01:00NATO must remain the centre of defence, a stronger European pillar was needed.