Thank you very much, Prime Minister, for receiving me here. And first of all, congratulations on your electoral win. It's a great moment for Canada and for our cooperation. The EU-Canada story is a good one to tell. It's a story of friendship, of trust, of standing side by side. The world needs more of that right now. Whether bilaterally, in the G7, or NATO, we've always been there for each other and joined forces for others.
I want to thank Canada for being such a staunch supporter of Ukraine from day 1 of Russia's atrocious war against the country.
We have a very strong trade relationship, as CETA's success tells us, and we are working closely in other fields, from AI, to clean energy and critical raw materials.
And finally, on defence, I want to thank Canada for always being a reliable partner on NATO's Eastern flank. We know as Europeans that we have to step up in this domain without any question. So we would love to work together with you on a security and defence partnership. Let's see how far we get at our summit on June 23rd.
