European countries must take responsibility for their own security as resolutely as possible, because the American presence on the continent will not grow, Ambassador of France to Ukraine Gaël Veyssière emphasizes.
During a new format discussion of the Kyiv Security Forum – "Kyiv Security Forum: Deep Strike" on Friday, Veyssière noted that the trend was that the American presence in Europe, speaking diplomatically, would not grow, and that they should take the situation into their own hands as resolutely as possible, both at the national level and within the EU and NATO. He added that their American friends were telling them that they had to do more, and, frankly speaking, they were right.
Veyssière emphasized that defense had become one of the key areas of the EU. He recalled that ten years prior, the issue of defense had not been discussed at all, whereas it was currently one of the key areas of EU activity. According to him, they had managed to create excellent programs – EDIP, SAFE – with large financial resources, aimed both at ensuring that EU member states increased their military and defense capabilities and at bringing direct benefits to Ukraine. He expressed his belief that they should continue to move in that direction.
The diplomat also praised the results of the G7 summit, which had taken place in France on June 15-17. He stated that the crisis in the Middle East had then been settled, and it was now time to refocus attention on another extremely important issue– Ukraine. He noted that the summit had taken place at the right moment and had indeed brought tangible results.
The discussion in the new format took place with the participation of Veyssière, German Ambassador to Ukraine Heiko Thoms, former Prime Minister of Ukraine (2014-2016) Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and KSF Security Council member, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2014) Danylo Lubkivsky.
