00:00The world is undergoing a rupture across several dimensions in technology, in energy, in commerce
00:06and geopolitics. Integration is being used as a weapon by some and the rules are not
00:14constraining the hegemons. Now we have to absolutely take on the world as it is, not as we wish it
00:21to
00:21be. Thank you very much, Prime Minister Pashian, for that introduction. I'd like to thank you and
00:27thank you, President Costa, for the very kind invitation to this summit and your leadership
00:33at this pivotal time for Europe and the world.
00:36And I would like to thank President Macron for his initiative aiming to create this
00:45account. As the agenda is shown today, his vision, your vision, your vision, it is one
00:54time for the future. I join others in saluting the progress that's been made on peace between
01:04Armenia and Azerbaijan. And I welcome the presence of President Aliyev. I'd like to say thank
01:13you again for the invitation. I do think that it is fitting that Canada is the first non-European
01:18country to join this forum as we are the most European of non-European countries. We share
01:26a triple alignment of history of values and trust. Our histories are deeply intertwined.
01:33I refer back to the water analogy that we just witnessed with the opening ceremony, but it's
01:38personified by tens of millions of Canadians of European descent, including more than 60,000
01:44Armenians. Our shared values are born of that common history, freedom, rule of law, democracy,
01:51pluralism. And these values shape our relationships, determine our priorities and point to our common
01:57future. Canada has consistently stood up for these values, including in recent years, from our membership
02:04of the Coalition of the Willing as one of the largest per capita contributors to Ukraine, to our leadership
02:10of the NATO brigade in Latvia, to our intensify in cooperation with the Nordic countries, UK and Germany,
02:17on Arctic security, and our role as the only non-European participant in the European mission in Armenia.
02:25We're demonstrating not just the strength of our values in defending the rules-based international order,
02:32as you rightly mentioned, Antonio, but also the value of our strength. And that's necessary because the world is
02:40undergoing a rupture across several dimensions in technology, in energy, in commerce,
02:46and geopolitics. Integration is being used as a weapon by some, and the rules are not constraining
02:55the hegemons. Now, we have to actively take on the world as it is, not as we wish it to
03:01be. We know
03:01nostalgia is not a strategy, but we don't think that we're destined to submit to a more transactional,
03:08insular, and brutal world. And gatherings such as these point to a better way forward.
03:14I think I'll close my remarks with a few observations on strategic autonomy, recognizing that security and prosperity
03:21today extend well beyond the traditional areas of food, energy, and defense, important as they are,
03:27to include space-based communications, semiconductors, digital sovereignty, critical minerals, independent
03:34payment systems, clean energy, and vaccines. And our strategic imperative is to build these sovereign
03:41capabilities with the most trusted partners, and that creates enormous opportunities for partnership
03:47between Canada and Europe. We view ourselves as highly complementary to your economic and security goals.
03:57That's demonstrated through the work we're doing with the presidencies on the new EU-Canada
04:03strategic partnership of the future, building deeper relationships from digital to defense,
04:09supply chains to security. We're honored to be the first non-European country as part of the EU-SAFE
04:16initiative. We would observe that in the last year, we have struck $18 billion worth of critical minerals
04:24deals across 20 of the world's leading critical minerals. The way to look at this is we are warehousing these
04:31to look for government-to-government deals with our close partners and under the rubric of the G7,
04:38first and foremost, but then more broadly. We're working with European partners across the technology stack
04:45from hardware, cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and space. And as we'll discuss later,
04:51we are an energy superpower, third largest oil producer, fourth largest natural gas, largest hydro-renewable base.
05:00We're committed to addressing climate change while providing reliable, affordable energy to our citizens
05:06and partners. In closing, we're here because of your invitation. Again, thank you for that. But we're
05:15here because of the moral and security imperatives of our cooperation in the Caucasus, in the Baltics,
05:22in Ukraine, across Europe, and also because of the immense potential for our partnerships to build a
05:29better, more prosperous, sustainable, and just world for our citizens. And I'll close with this. It's my
05:35strong personal view that as the international order will be rebuilt, but it will be rebuilt out of
05:43Europe. And so I'm very appreciative of the symbolism of this invitation. Thank you.
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