Amid concern in the NATO alliance and international markets over Washington’s long-term strategy, the EU and Canada signed a security and defence cooperation on Monday and began negotiations on a digital trade pact as part of their efforts to strengthen their relationship.
The 20th summit between Brussels and Ottawa followed a G7 leaders’ meeting in Canada, where US President Donald Trump’s sudden early departure made headlines, and occurred just before a NATO leaders’ conference in The Hague.
Following his meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, European Council President Antonio Costa described the summit as “a powerful political statement.
Meeting with him, Carney stated that the international system built on rules was “under threat,” and that allies had to decide whether to “build a new one with purpose and partnerships, or nostalgically look back and long for the old world order to somehow return.”
One of the summit’s primary outcomes is the signing of the Security and Defence Partnership (SPD), which will enable collaboration on counterterrorism, non-proliferation, disarmament, space policy, support for Ukraine, maritime security, cyber and hybrid threats, crisis management, military mobility, and defence industrial cooperation.
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