We have entered a new phase of open conflicts and wars.

Europe just returned from a vacation from world history.

Together, we’ve entered an era that once again is marked by power and big power politics.

China wants to be a leader in shaping the world, and it has paved the ground for that over many years, with strategic patience.

In the foreseeable future, Beijing could be on an equal footing with the United States in military terms.

China systematically uses the dependencies of others, and it redefines the international order in its own favor.

If there had been a unipolar moment after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a unipolar moment in history, it has long passed.

The United States’ claim to leadership has been challenged and possibly lost.

Our prime task as Europeans, and of course as Germans too — is to accept this new reality today.

It does not mean that we accept it as an inevitable fate.

We are not at the mercy of this world. We can shape it.

Russia’s GDP is currently about 2 trillion euros; that of the European Union is almost 10 times as high. But still, Europe is not 10 times as strong as Russia today.

Our military, political, economic, and technological potential is huge.

We haven’t tapped it to the necessary extent for a very long time. So, the most important thing is to turn the switch in our minds now.

We have understood that in the era of big powers, our freedom is no longer a given — it is at stake.

The restructuring of the world by the big powers is happening faster and more comprehensively than we can strengthen ourselves.

Sometimes people automatically demand Europe to just write off the US as a partner. I understand the uneasiness and the doubts that lead to such claims — I share some of them. But still, these claims have not been fully thought through.

They underestimate the potential that our partnership with the US continues to have, despite all the difficulties that exist.

We have imposed unheard-of losses and costs on Moscow.

We will make the Bundeswehr the strongest conventional army in Europe as soon as we can.

I have started first talks with French President Macron about European nuclear deterrence.

This will be fully embedded in our nuclear sharing within NATO, and we will not have zones of different security levels in Europe.

We are at the heart of Europe.

If Europe is torn apart, Germany is torn apart.

A divide has opened up between Europe and the United States, and Vice President JD Vance said this very openly here at the Munich Security Conference a year ago, and he was right.

The battle of cultures of MAGA in the U.S. is not ours.

Freedom of speech here ends where the words spoken are directed against human dignity and our Basic Law.

We do not believe in tariffs and protectionism, but in free trade.

In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone.

NATO is not only Europe's competitive advantage, but also the United States' competitive advantage.

So, let’s repair the transatlantic trust together.

Denmark knows that it can rely on European solidarity.

There is no limitation to that.

We reach out to new partners with whom we share not all but many objectives.

Canada, Japan, Turkey, India, and Brazil will play a key role in this, as do South Africa, the Gulf states, and others.

We want to work more closely together with these states on the basis of mutual respect and with stamina and determination.

We Germans know that a world in which might makes right would be a dark place.

Our country has gone down this path in the 20th century until the bitter and dreadful end.

Today, we embark on a different and better path.

2025 was about setting the table. 2026 is gonna be a banquet for the American people.

The economy is taking off.