 Good morning. I have the great pleasure and honor to welcome Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, to be with us. And actually, Madam President, you opened our 50th anniversary, and many of the people will still remember what a wonderful location it has been. And you just had assumed the presidency, I think, two months earlier. And now we are back, 26 months later, 28 months later, how the world has changed. And you have been at a central point of all those changes actually having to support the burden of those changes and to make sure that we take the necessary actions. I mean, it's just unbelievable. You started your mandate with the commitment to make Europe more digital, to make it greener. And I think you have made great progress in this respect. But then COVID came and you took a major role in terms of vaccines. We had to manage the consequences of COVID, just imagine what it means to put together a 800 billion recovery program. And some just three months ago, the war, the aggression of Russia on Ukraine happened. And you took again a very determining role in shaping Europe's reaction. If I would summarize, Europe is back. And so, we have the great pleasure to welcome you here. Please greet the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Thank you very much, Klaus. Ladies and gentlemen, indeed, following your introduction, dear Klaus, it is difficult to believe that in Davos today, we're talking about war, because the Davos spirit is the antithesis of war. It is about forging ties and together finding solutions for the big challenges of the world. You might remember and you worked on it together with us that in recent years, we have looked at smart and sustainable ways to fight climate change and how to shape globalization so that all can benefit. How to make digitalization a force for good and mitigate its risks for democracies. So Davos is all about crafting a better future together. That is what we should be talking here about today. But instead, we must address the cost and consequences of Putin's war of choice. The playbook of Russia's aggression against Ukraine comes straight out of another century, treating millions of people, not as human beings, but as faceless populations to be moved or controlled or set as a buffer between military forces, trying to trample the aspiration of an entire nation with tanks. This is not just a matter of Ukraine survival. This is not just an issue of European security. This is putting our whole international order into question. And that's why countering Russia's aggression is a task for the entire global community. Ukraine must win this war. And Putin's aggression must be a strategic failure. So we will do everything we can to help Ukrainians prevail and retake the future into their hands. For the first time in history, the European Union is providing military aid to a country under attack. We are mobilizing our full economic power. Our sanctions and the self-sanctioning of companies themselves are draining Russia's economy and thus draining the Kremlin's war machine. Our member states are caring for 6 million Ukrainian refugees, and actually there are 8 million internally displaced people in Ukraine itself. And in parallel, Ukraine needs direct budget support now to keep the economy running. It's about pensions, it's about salaries, it's about the basic services that have to be provided. And therefore, we have proposed a 10 billion euros macro-financial assistance. It is the largest package of macro-financial assistance ever conceived by the European Union for a third country. Other countries, starting with our friends in the United States, are doing their utmost too. It is an economic relief operation with no precedent in recent history. But that is the short term, and much more needs to be done. So with the same resolve, we will hand in hand help Ukraine rise from the ashes. That's the idea behind the reconstruction platform that I proposed to President Zelensky. You remember that yesterday, in his speech here in Davos, he recognized the unprecedented unity of the democratic world, the understanding that freedom must be fought for. So the rebuilding of Ukraine also calls for an unprecedented unity. As President Zelensky said, the work that has to be done is colossal. But together we can, and we will, master the challenge. And that is why I have proposed this reconstruction platform to be led by Ukraine and the European Commission, because we will combine reform with investment. The platform invites global contributions from any country that cares about the future of Ukraine, from international financial institutions, from the private sector. We need everyone on board. And I was very glad to hear about the Lugano initiative yesterday. Borge Brende called it a martial plan for Ukraine. And ladies and gentlemen, we should leave no stone unturned. That is including, if possible, the Russian assets that we have frozen. But this is not only about undoing the damage of Putin's destructive fury. It is also about building the future that Ukrainians have chosen themselves. For years now, the people of Ukraine have worked for change. And that is why they elected Volodymyr Zelensky in the first place. The reconstruction of the country should combine massive investment with ambitious reforms. For example, to modernize Ukraine's administrative capacity, to firmly establish the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. To fight corruption, get rid of the oligarchs. To build a fair, sustainable, and strong, competitive economy. And thus, to firmly support Ukraine in pursuing its European path. Ukraine belongs into the European family. Ukrainians have stood tall in the face of brutal violence. They have stood for their own freedom, but also for our values and for humanity. So we stand with them. And I think this is a defining moment for all democracies on the whole globe. Ladies and gentlemen, this conflict is also sending shock waves throughout the world, further disrupting supply chains already stretched by the pandemic. It is putting new burdens on businesses and households. And it has created a thick fog of uncertainty for investors across the globe. And more and more companies and countries already battered by two years of COVID-19 and all the resulting supply chain issues must now cope with rising prices for energy as a direct result of Putin's unpardonable war. And Russia has tried to put pressure on us. For example, by cutting the energy supplies, the gas supplies of Bulgaria, Poland, and now, lately, Finland. But this war, and this behaviour we see, has only strengthened Europe's resolve to get rid of Russian fossil fuel dependency rapidly. The climate cannot wait. But now, the geopolitical reasons are evident, too. We have to diversify away from fossil fuels. We have set our course already towards climate neutrality. So now we must accelerate our clean energy transition. And fortunately, we are already having in place the means to do so. The European Green Deal is already ambitious. But now we are taking our ambition yet to another level. Last week, the European Commission tabled and proposed Repower EU. That is our 300 billion euro plan to phase out of Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition. And today, if we look at the share of renewables we have in Europe, almost a quarter of the energy we consume in Europe stems from renewable sources already. This is the famous European Green Deal. But now, through Repower EU, we will practically double this share to 45% in 2030. This is only possible by also bringing cross-border cooperation to a new level. Take, for example, the North Sea of Europe and what is happening there. Last week, we had four European member states joining forces to harness the energy of offshore wind, and they decided to quadruple their offshore wind capacity by 2030. That will mean that wind farms in the North Sea will cover the annual energy consumption of more than 50 million homes. This is roughly one quarter of all European households. This is the right way to go. Renewable energy is basically our springboard towards net zero CO2 emissions. And it is good for the climate, but it is also good for our independence and for our security of energy supply. The same is true for the diversification of our gas supply. This is another pillar of Repower EU. As we speak, Europe is concluding new arrangements with reliable, trustworthy suppliers all over the world. In March, I agreed with President Biden to significantly step up LNG deliveries from the United States to the European Union. The amount will replace around about one-third of the Russian gas we have today. More LNG pipeline gas will also come from the Middle East and North Africa. New LNG terminals in Greece and Cyprus and in Poland will soon become operational, as will new interconnectors. And important is that the connecting pipeline infrastructure will then, over time, form the core of our hydrogen corridors. Hydrogen, ladies and gentlemen, is the new frontier of Europe's energy network. But we must also think further ahead. The economies of the future will no longer rely on oil and coal, but on lithium for batteries, on silicon metal for chips, on rare earth permanent magnets, for electric vehicles and wind turbines. And it's sure the green and digital transition will massively increase our need for these materials. However, if we look at where we are today, access to these materials is not at all a given. For many of them, we rely on a handful of producers all over the world. So we must avoid falling into the same trap as with oil and gas. We should not replace all dependencies with new ones. We are therefore working to ensure the resilience of our supply chains. And again, strong international partnerships are at the heart of the solution. So the Commission has already secured strategic raw material partnerships with countries, for example, like Canada. And additional reliable partnerships will follow. Once again, together we can create more balanced interdependencies and build supply chains that we can really trust. Ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing how Russia is weaponizing its energy supplies. And indeed, this is having global repercussions. Unfortunately, we are seeing the same pattern emerging in food security. Ukraine is one of the world's most fertile countries. And even its flag symbolizes the most common Ukrainian landscape, a yellow field of grain under blue-blue sky. Now those fields of grain have been scorched. In Russian-occupied Ukraine, the Kremlin's army is confiscating grain stocks and machinery. For some, this brought back memories from a dark past, the times of the Soviets, crop seizures, and the devastating famine of the 1930s. Today, Russia's artillery is bombarding grain warhouses in Ukraine deliberately. And Russia's warships in the Black Sea are blockading Ukrainian ships full of wheat and sunflower seeds. The consequences of these shameful acts are there for everyone to see. Global wheat prices are skyrocketing, and it's the fragile countries and vulnerable populations that suffer the most. Bread prices in Lebanon have increased by 70 percent, and food shipments from Odessa could not reach Somalia. And on top of this, Russia is now hoarding its own food exports as a form of blackmail, holding back supplies to increase global prices or trading wheat in exchange for political support. This is using hunger and grain to wield power. And again, our answer is and must be to mobilize greater collaboration and support at the European and global level. First, Europe is working hard to get grain to global markets out of Ukraine. You must know that there are currently 20 million tons of wheat stuck in Ukraine. The usual export in Ukraine was 5 million tons per month. Now it is down to 200,000 to 1 million tons. By getting it out, we can provide Ukrainians with the needed revenues and the world food program with supplies it so badly needs. So to do this, we're opening solidarity lines. We are linking Ukraine's borders to our ports. We're financing different modes of transportation so that Ukraine's grain can reach the most vulnerable countries in the world. Second, we're stepping up our own production to ease pressure on global food markets. And we're working with the world food program so that available stocks and additional countries are able to reach the products who have the products at affordable prices. Third, we're supporting Africa in becoming less dependent on food imports. Only 50 years ago, Africa produced all the food it needed. For centuries, countries like Egypt were the granaries of the world. Then climate change made water scarce and the desert swallowed hundreds of kilometers of fertile land year after year. Today, Africa is heavily dependent on food imports and this makes it vulnerable. Therefore, an initiative to boost Africa's own production capacity will be critical to strengthen the continent's resilience. The challenge is to adapt farming to a warmer and drier age. So innovative technologies will be crucial to leapfrog. Companies around the world are already testing high-tech solutions for climate smart agriculture. For example, precision irrigation, operating on power from renewable or vertical farming or nanotechnologies which can cut the use of fossil fuels to produce fertilizers. Ladies and gentlemen, the signs of a growing food crisis are obvious. We have to act urgently. But there are also solutions today and on the horizon. And this is why, again, cooperation, I am working with President Al-Sisi to address the repercussions of the war with an event on food security and the solutions coming from Europe and the region. It is time to end the unhealthy dependencies. It is time to create new connections. It is time to replace the old chains with new bonds. So let's overcome these huge challenges in cooperation and that is in Davos spirit. Thank you for your attention. President Diorzola, your speech, I think for me was impressive because it was also a very reassuring answer to some of the concerns President Zelensky raised yesterday. So I'm very happy that Davos gets also a response. And second, what impresses me as a former professor for strategy, how Europe takes the existential crisis. It's an existential crisis at the same time as an opportunity to shape its own future in a much more constructive way. Now I have two questions, two short questions. The first one is related. You spoke about the strategic autonomy also in a military sense. And we have to increase our defense budgets. But could you develop a little bit more about it, what the future of the European defense mechanism could be? Yes. So first and foremost, it's very clear that NATO is the strongest military alliance of the world and it will always be. And Europe will never be a military alliance. But I'm deeply convinced that as Europeans, we need to be able to care for our own defense and to be able to act if being called upon. Now if you look at the last, well, basically decade of defense investment right after the financial crisis, you see that there were enormous cuts in defense spending. And if you look at the aggregated figures now since the financial crisis, financial and economic crisis, you see that the defense investment in Europe rose by 20 percent in the United States by 65 percent in Russia by 300 percent and in China by 600 percent. Of course, I know these are relative figures, but they are telling. Now it is very good that with the bitter, bitter experience of war back on European soil, we realize we have to invest much more in a solid European defense capabilities. Leaders have agreed to spend 200 billion euros, step up and spending 200 billion euros in defense capabilities. So far, this is good. Very important for us in the European Union is that this is not 27 times fragmented investment in defense capabilities because as a former Minister of Defense, I know very well how important interoperability between armed forces is so that you have not 17 different types of tanks or fighter jets, but one or two. Because this gives you the opportunity to scale up, so to use the economy of scales, to work together on spare parts, but also to exchange personnel that is trained on that. For example, an Estonian pilot could fly a fighter jet that comes from Belgium. So the interoperability between the armed forces is really crucial. And therefore, we are now putting up a platform in the European Union to orchestrate and to make sure that we have a joint procurement approach for this massive investment that will be there. Osla, last question. If you look long-term, can you ever imagine that Russia will refine its place in Europe? Yes, is my answer. If Russia finds its way back to democracy, the rule of law, the respect for the international rules-based order, then it's a clear yes, because Russia is our neighbor. Russia will stay there. We share a long history. We share culture. So this might be, and this is certainly a distant dream and hope, but this also says that our standing up against this brutal invasion is standing up against the leadership in Russia. It is the Russian people who are the ones who decide about the future of their country. They have it in their hands, and therefore my answer is, as I just said. Maybe a last, very last question. Of course, we have, I mean, political leaders, business leaders. What can business leaders do, if you had a wish, really to support all the program? And what should be the mentality of the business leaders? Certainly not business goes on. We have also to absorb what you just told us in our mindset as business leaders. What would be your message? Well, everything I've been speaking about, the knock-on effects of the war, but also that we are facing multiple crises, and the back is looming the climate crisis, and it's getting bigger and bigger. We are still in the outgoing part of the pandemic, but we have not overcome it. And now we have the knock-on effects, for example, the food crisis really coming at fast speed as a consequence of Putin's war. In every aspect, we will not make it without the private sector, without the business sector. We need you, and my experience in my time as president of the European Commission is, that it is an excellent cooperation with the business sector, because the business sector is taking on responsibility. I've seen it when we started with the European Green Deal, and now in full-fledged, you are at our side coming with the innovation that is needed to really have this green transformation. We would never have thought that a war also gives us a second good argument really to accelerate the green transformation because of Russia's blackmailing us with fossil fuels. But the business sector is enormous helpful. I am, and I was impressed to see when we unleashed five packages of severe sanctions, how the business sector stood up and took responsibility too, by deciding to not only follow the sanctions, but kind of self-sanctioning their own activities in Russia, and leaving the country, but also taking care of their employees. This was amazing to see and is amazing to see. And now if I raise the topic of the food crisis, we will need all our combined strength to manage that, because there are already millions of people that are very, at the very bottom of poverty and do not know where to have a meal the next day. But this will be much, much getting much, much worse over the next month because the Ukraine wheat and grain supply and the Russian grain supply, which were the granaries of the world, isn't there anymore with all the consequences for the poorest in the world. We'll need every helping hand. And you are always the masters of precise, tailored solutions and innovations. So we can do the framework that eases it for you or nudges you in the right direction, but the innovation, the solutions come from research and science, of course, but also from the business sector. And therefore you are so important. Thank you on behalf of all the participants, Madam President, for your so comprehensive speech. Thank you.