Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 21, 2026
1 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleEU Council President Costa declares EU's readiness to defend against coercion, emphasizing the importance of international law in Strasbourg.
STRASBOURG, France, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The European Union will defend itself against any form of coercion and will protect the international rules-based order and international law, EU Council President Antonio Costa said on Wednesday.
"We stand ready to defend ourselves, our member states, our citizens, our companies, against any form of coercion. And the European Union has the power and the tools to do so," Costa said in a speech in European Parliament.
"We cannot accept that the law of the strongest prevails over the rights of the weakest," Costa said.
"Because international rules are not optional. And alliances cannot just boil down to a sequence of transactions."
(Reporting by Lili Bayer and Inti Landauro, editing by Bart Meijer)
Coercion refers to the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats. In the context of international relations, it often involves pressure on states or entities to conform to certain demands.
International law consists of rules and principles that govern the relations and dealings of nations with each other. It encompasses treaties, customs, and legal precedents that countries are expected to follow.
The EU Council President is responsible for representing the EU at the highest level, overseeing the work of the Council, and ensuring the continuity of its agenda and policies among member states.
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