This meeting of the European Political Community and the European Council here in Budapest is taking place at a time of great geopolitical turmoil.
Let me start by congratulating President Trump on his emphatic election and express the hope that the transatlantic relationship will continue to remain strong in order to solve important regional and global problems.
But of course, we also need to be quite realistic as Europeans, and we cannot approach this transatlantic partnership from a position of weakness. Europe cannot change the world, but it can certainly change itself to cope with a changing world.
Hence, the discussions that we will have at the European Council, especially when it comes to the questions of European competitiveness, are discussions which are particularly relevant.
I think it is time to wake up from our geopolitical naiveté and to realise that we need to commit additional resources in order to be able to address major challenges, be it issues of competitiveness, European defence.
I do hope that we have reached a point where we will have this discussion with the seriousness and the urgency that these times demand.
