Germany, France and Poland aim to become a driving force for a common European security framework in the face of hybrid threats from Russia.
The foreign ministers of the three countries – who have met regularly since 1991 under the umbrella of the Weimar Triangle Alliance – held talks in the central German city of Weimar on Wednesday.
“We can no longer afford a foreign policy on autopilot,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, along with her French counterpart Stéphane Séjourné and Poland’s Radosław Sikorski.
She added: “That is why we, as the Weimar Triangle, want to be the driving force to ensure that we as the European Union position ourselves correctly and become more capable of geopolitical action.”
Just weeks before the June 6-9 European Parliament elections, leaders agreed that their countries should work together in the fight against fake news and disinformation.
“All three of us can see that the European Union, our union of freedom, is in our sights. Europe is under attack from within and without, including by espionage,” Baerbock warned.
Disinformation campaigns target “the heart of European democracy,” she said.
She said the health and strength of Europe’s democracies owe a lot to luck and the efforts of previous generations.
“The Weimar Republic reminds us how quickly democratic rules can be undermined by hate and targeted campaigns,” Baerbock warned.
She added: “At the same time, we know from our history that democracy does not fall from heaven, but must be lived every day and defended if necessary.”
Baerbock attended the meeting immediately after returning from a short visit to Kiev on Tuesday, where she called for more international support for Ukraine’s air defense.
