European leaders reaffirmed on Wednesday their commitment to a stronger defence partnership ahead of next month's NATO summit in Ankara, following a series of spats with US President Donald Trump and tensions among the main European members. They also offered a warm farewell to outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after he announced this week he would step down amid growing discontent in his party. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who invited the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Poland to Berlin, said the NATO summit on July 7-8 would be the moment to demonstrate Europe's determination to take a stronger leadership role in defence. "We want to renew the Alliance. We are strengthening its European pillar," Merz said as the leaders made brief remarks before meeting over dinner.
Is Europe getting its act together on defence? Multiple threats prompt EU rearmament
To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.
One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.
Cover image: TALKING EUROPE © FRANCE 24
