Munich Security Conference opens amid strained transatlantic ties

European Commission President von der Leyen has celebrated the EU’s €150 billion Security Action for Europe (SAFE) scheme at a side event organised by Germany’s ruling CDU party.

“SAFE has €100 billion allocated for joint projects to close the gaps and also to strengthen (the EU’s) own defence capability,” she said.

“A second element is important here, namely that these €100 billion, which are made available, very clearly define that 65 per cent, two-thirds of the products must come from Ukraine or Europe, and can no longer be purchased from abroad.”

She also mentioned the bloc’s collective €90 billion loan for Ukraine, which was agreed by EU countries in early February.

“This loan must only be repaid by Ukraine if Russia pays reparations. Two-thirds of this loan, i.e. €60 billion, is available for defence expenditures.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte kicked off today’s conference by speaking of a “mindset shift” amongst European leaders.

“We had years, decades, of complaints by the US about the fact that in Europe we were not spending enough on defence. That is what we are correcting at the moment, and this makes NATO so much stronger,” he told reporters at a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“The shift in mindset is that yesterday in the room, what we felt, all of us, there was a clear coming together of vision and of unity.”

Transatlantic relations are a key theme at this year’s conference after a tumultuous year of White House policies that’s shaken the western alliance to its core.

At a meeting on Thursday, US and European defence ministers seemed to be in agreement that the NATO military alliance needs to become more “European” to survive, but their rationales for this shift might differ.

Our reporter Alice Tidey has more below.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech to the Munich Security Conference is scheduled for 12pm tomorrow.

According to my colleague Sasha Vakulina, he will today attend a Berlin format meeting with leaders of European countries, the EU, NATO, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as holding a series of bilateral meetings with Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, Finland’s Alexander Stubb, the Netherlands’ Dick Schoof, and exiled Iranian dissident Reza Pahlavi.

He will also visit the first joint Ukrainian-German drone production enterprise, Quantum Frontline Industries.

“We need more of our joint production, more of our resilience, more coordination and effectiveness of our shared security architecture in Europe,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

“The most significant thing we can achieve together is ending the war with a dignified peace and creating reliable security guarantees for Ukraine and for all of Europe – so that no one in Europe is afraid of being left without protection.”

World leaders are starting to trickle into Munich’s iconic Bayerischer Hof hotel.

Among others, our reporters on the ground have spotted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen; earlier, Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha were seen cutting a ribbon to open the “Ukraine House” — a new venue designed to showcase the conference’s commitment to supporting Ukraine.

The three-day conference officially kicks off at 13.30 CET, but it will still be an action-packed day with some heavy-hitting speakers.

Here are the events we’ll bring you (all times CET):

• 13.30: Opening with welcome remarks by MSC chairman Ischinger, Bavaria State Premier Soeder, Chancellor Friedrich Merz 
• 14.30: Session on multilateralism with EU’s Kaja Kallas, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, and the US ambassador to UN
• 15.30: Session on Geoeconomics with the WTO chief Okonjo-Iweala, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Germany’ finance minister
• 15.30: Arctic Security with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt
• 17.30: Session on hybrid warfare with the German Federal Intelligence Service president, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Moldova President Maia Sandu, NATO Admiral Guiseppe Cavo Dragone
• 18.45: Session on Iran with Prince Reza Pahlavi, and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola 
• 19.00: France in Europe and the world with President Macron

Welcome to Euronews’ live coverage of the Munich Security Conference, bringing you the latest updates from three days of debate between the world’s top international security figures.

Today’s conference opens with a speech by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of multiple European heads of state or government who will attend.

Among the other guests are Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is bringing with him a large US delegation one year after Vice President J.D. Vance shocked European leaders with a lecture on the state of democracy in Europe.

All eyes this year will be on how Washington will show up after a year of White House policies that have strained the transatlantic relationship. Stay tuned for more.