Your Excellency,
Ladies and gentlemen,
We live in turbulent times. We are experiencing instability in our own societies, but also in our neighbourhoods, across borders.
Instability that is causing certain people to flee, but also instability that both generates and is generated by violence.
Today, all these challenges are global.
No country remains unaffected.
Whether it is the Syrian or Rohingya refugee crisis.
Whether it is terrorist attacks in Istanbul, Kabul, Bali, or Barcelona.
In the past two years, Europe has lived through these crises, both on migration and on security, and on top of that also an economic crisis.
And while the impacts of these crises are nowhere nearly over, we can see some light at the end of the tunnel.
The biggest crisis that we faced in all this, was the crisis of values.
A crisis of solidarity. An existential crisis, touching on the very fundaments upon which our Union, our family, is built.
What we saw in Europe, we also see across the globe.
When our citizens are faced with insecurity, with instability, with the unknown – it is easy to choose isolation, to reject globalisation, to turn inward, to burn bridges and erect walls.
To allow ourselves to be swayed by populist slogans, and textbook nationalism.
But if we have learnt one thing over the past two years, whether it was to better manage the migration crisis or to fight terrorism, it is that we can only do this by building bridges, not walls.
This is essential not just for the social cohesion and resilience of our societies, but also for the prosperity of our economies, and for the stability of our democracies.
National borders still exist of course – but the challenges of migration, terrorism, cybercrime or financial crises do not stop at these borders, as many of you here know.
We talk about East and West, North and South – but these are semantic differences.
A citizen in Europe or a citizen in China can be equally vulnerable or affected by an attack of terrorism or cybercrime.
We live in a globalised world. Our answers can therefore only be global.
And the essence of this is cooperation, across borders.
In the past two years, Europe has worked relentlessly to improve the coordination of our actions on both migration and security matters, both within Europe and with our partners outside.
On migration, we have reduced irregular arrivals in the Eastern Mediterranean by 97% thanks to the EU-Turkey Statement.
And this summer, we managed to get more control over the Central Mediterranean route with arrivals in August down by 81% compared to the same month last year.
In parallel, we have established in record time the European Border and Coast Guard Agency to strengthen the external borders of the European Union, and better protect internal free movement.
We have offered protection to more than 700,000 people in the past year, collectively.
Europe is and must remain the continent of solidarity where those fleeing persecution can find refuge.
This is why we are ready to resettle a further 50,000 persons from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, but also from countries along the Central Mediterranean route in the coming two years.
This is also why we are investing in opening more legal pathways for migrants to come to Europe, who want to work and study here.
The voice and experience of the business community and our economic partners is crucial for this.
Because we all know that migration is here to stay.
Mobility is an intrinsic feature of the 21st century.
We have to harvest the social and economic advantages of it.
In today’s rapidly changing world, Asia and Europe, East and West are becoming ever more connected – whether it’s on mobility, trade and industry, climate, energy or security issues
Europe has been a very attractive destination for the East to do business.
For Europe, trade is much more than economic relations.
It is also about promoting our democratic, social and environmental standards.
The relationship between Europe and Asia also brings positive opportunities for travel and mobility.
For example, in 2015 and 2016, almost 2000 Chinese citizens were studying in the EU and more than 1000 EU students were in China.
This is the kind of mobility we should build on, together.
But this also means that globally we need to reduce irregular migration.
In the immediate neighbourhood of Europe, we have started a genuine political dialogue with countries of origin and transit, particularly from Africa.
Bringing stability back to Libya is our ultimate and essential objective – and the European Union is deeply invested in this in the long run.
In the meantime, we try to help countries in Northern and Sub-Saharan African to better manage migration, including readmissions, and fight against criminal networks putting the lives of migrants at risk.
In order to address the root causes of migration from Africa, last year we have set up the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, worth EUR 3.1 billion.
But we need a concerted approach on migration worldwide.
Global actors, including in Asia, have to share the responsibility for the world’s refugees.
An essential condition to better managing migration and addressing root causes is precisely to reduce instability and conflict across the globe, and to increase safety and security.
Here too, we all need each other, not just across borders, but also across stakeholders: governments, the private sector, civil society.
In an increasingly globalised and digitalised age, security is everything – and citizens are worried about their security.
At home, when working or travelling, and online.
Terrorism is not an issue for one nation.
For one region.
It is a problem which transcends borders and continents.
It is a threat for all our democracies, and the rules-based international order we built since the second World War.
Seeing terrorism in this light, it becomes plainly obvious that the only way to fight it is globally.
With trust between us, and a strong sense of unity and purpose in our efforts.
That is why we support, and we will always support fighting terrorism globally, multilaterally, collectively.
Increasing security and investing in peace globally is in our shared interest.
The hard lessons we learned have led us to conclude that joint action is inevitable.
That only through a genuine and effective Security Union in Europe, can we build the same unity of purpose, and operational effectiveness to fight terrorism.
While our Member States retain their responsibility and competence for national security, this effort against terrorism can only be common.
To fight radicalisation on our streets, and on the internet, through the partnership and the trust we have invested in with the internet industry players.
To enhance our sharing of information and achieve the interoperability of all our information systems.
To step up our resilience, our deterrence and our defences against cyber-threats.
To improve the security of our external borders.
To deprive terrorists of the means they have to commit attacks, such as firearms and explosives.
To protect our citizens in public open spaces – the so-called soft-targets.
Ultimately, to arrive in the medium term, to a consensus also about our understanding of national security:
to overcome the national security taboos of the past,
and to decide to work together towards a truly European security system.
Where intelligence services work together, through a single European intelligence unit.
This is our model in Europe, but it should also be our blueprint for our cooperation globally.
We need to create a platform for stronger international cooperation in our fight against terrorism and cross-border crime.
This cooperation will effectively support national authorities in their endeavour.
There is no place for the “deep state” anymore when it comes to the global fight against terrorism.
This approach only makes us vulnerable.
This is why we need to cooperate and exchange information with our key partners in the Middle East, in Asia, in Africa, as well as across the Atlantic.
We need to overcome the fragmentation which terrorists and criminals are so effective at exploiting.
To see our security globally.
And to invest in the partnerships that make us all collectively stronger.
Nothing can justify fragmentation in our efforts when our citizens are targeted on a daily basis across the globe.
Dear all,
Europe and Asia need each other today more than ever to address the challenges of the 21st century together.
Greece is one of the examples demonstrating that our economies are becoming ever more connected – and so are our citizens.
We need to strengthen our cooperation across the board, ranging from cyber, counter-terrorism, peace keeping, to non-proliferation, defence and mobility.
Opportunities and moments like today, where we find ourselves in Athens, the very cradle of Europe’s democracy, are crucial steps towards that enhanced engagement and cooperation.
Across borders, across sectors.
It is the only way forward towards a more stable, prosperous, mobile and secure world.
Thank you.