04/12/2019 (Agence Europe) – The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the European Union should develop its own defence capabilities on Wednesday 4 December, while the NATO summit underway in London revealed strong divisions between member countries. According to her, NATO will always be the largest defence organisation in the world, with Article 5 providing for mutual assistance in the event of an attack on one of its members. “But there are issues where I do not see NATO intervening and where it is necessary to have an EU with the capacity to act”, she said, advocating a Defence Union. “It is thanks to France that Mali has not fallen”, the former German defence minister also stressed. (MB)