Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 14, 2026
1 min readLast updated: February 14, 2026
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Ursula von der Leyen advocates for the EU to activate its mutual defence pact, highlighting its importance at the Munich Security Conference.
MUNICH, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The European Union should "bring to life" a mutual defence pact anchored in its founding treaty, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
"Mutual defence is not an optional task for the European Union. It is an obligation within our own treaty," von der Leyen said in a speech at the conference.
"It is our collective commitment to stand by each other in case of aggression, or in simple terms: one for all and all for one. And this is Europe's meaning."
(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by Sarah Marsh)
The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, and managing the EU's day-to-day operations.
Collective defence refers to the security arrangement where member states agree to defend each other against external threats.
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