"It's time for Europe to stand up"; A "historic unification" is being prepared

"It is time for Europe to stand up and start the next big European project... The next era, our next big project must go in the direction of an independent Europe," said the president of the EU executive body while receiving the award at the Aachen town hall.

She added that the world is once again riddled with "imperial wars" and that Europe must therefore act.

"Europe is faced with a fundamental decision: to wait and then react to acute crises, or to take matters into its own hands and decide on the future," emphasized von der Leyen.

"Historical unification"

As another big task, she mentioned "the next historical unification", referring to the expansion of the European Union to the countries of the Western Balkans, as well as Moldova and Ukraine.

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that freedom and democracy are worth "fighting for and resolutely defending", referring to continued support for Ukraine.

"The European Union was successful as an internal peace project. Now it must act peacefully from the outside as well," said Scholz.