Lucinda Creighton: When it comes to security, there’s no substitute for the ‘special relationship’

Europe is right to grow its own defences in a time of global uncertainty, but nurturing the EU-US alliance must be prioritised

‘Ursula von der Leyen made no less than ten references to EU defence policy, highlighting the deficiencies in Europe’s defence architecture and calling for more commitment and cohesion in addressing these shortcomings.’ Picture: Frederic Marvaux

Ursula von der Leyen delivered her annual State of the European Union speech as president of the European Commission in Strasbourg on Thursday.

The more cynically-minded may cringe at the apparent rip-off of the address that has been delivered by every US president since Woodrow Wilson, but the reality is that the SOTEU speech has become a useful tool for the EU to set out its priorities and reinforce its core values.

This year’s was ...