“As you know, the Commission was launching a defence agenda in the recent weeks, and last Wednesday we decided to put into place a European Defence Fund. This Defence Fund is contributing to reduce the inefficiency and the fragmentation costs we are facing dearly”  – said the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker at Prague defence and security conference on Friday, 9.06.2017.

“This is not a counter-project to NATO – we are acting together with NATO. I had long conversations before coming here with the Secretary General of NATO. And that is the reason why I was stating this morning that no NATO is not an option for the European Union – it would be a disaster for the European Union – because we have to stick together and we will stick together,” – Juncker added at press-conference in Prague, Friday, 9.06.2017.