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Thanks a lot.

Ministers and their colleagues, it is a big pleasure to be here today in this very important summit,

and I would like to thank first of all the French Government and the German Government for organizing this very important event.

Thank you for putting the space where it belongs at the top of the European agenda and the global agenda.

Thank you for putting space for defense and defense of space on the same agenda.

Our space assets, European and national ones, are under attack.

Mainly by Russia and potentially others radio frequency interference, jamming and spoofing, suspicious proximity operations, development of anti-satellite weapons, missiles, robots and lasers,

and the war in Ukraine shows that modern warfare on the ground already depends on space for communication,

observation and intelligence.

It is impossible to defend Europe without space.

All our defense priorities, like drone and missile defense, right now depend on space.

To protect satellites from damage, deliberate or accidental, we will strengthen the European Union space surveillance and tracking.

We shall launch a new space services and operations systems.

We proposed a European Space Act with uniform European traffic rules for space to prevent accidents and debris,

and a new radio frequency interference alert service also will be implemented.

We are mobilizing space for our security and defense. Galileo offers also space based encrypted communications.

Soon even stronger with a new low Earth orbit component.

Member States are pooling and sharing national capabilities in govs.com.

Those with secure encrypted satellite communication capabilities now share with those who do not have.

Eris Square, a constellation of hundreds of satellites, will bring the best secure satellite connectivity in the world,

so European Union militaries will be able to communicate and coordinate in a single system.

We want Ukraine to join all these efforts.

That is why we started negotiations for Ukraine to join Gvs.com and Iris Square.

These are big and important steps, but not enough to keep Europe safe.

Now, when Russia's aggression is escalating and our transatlantic partners, the Americans, are focusing more and more on the Indo Pacific,

so we will help to create our own European strategic enablers, and space is the ultimate strategic enabler.

One of our biggest capability gaps is space based intelligence, eyes in the sky. Yes, we do have some national systems.

But the majority of them are too slow and fragmented, and not all Member States have access.

That is why we are planning an Earth observation governmental service, giving all Member States superfast,

super detailed geo intelligence observations, almost real time,

whether in rain or shine, night and day.

The key question how can we best provide the European Union added value to sovereign national space defense?

That is why the Commission will present the Commission communication on the European Space Shield,

our proposal for a European space security architecture, designed together with Member States.

European space governance, how to work together for our defense, the European Union and Member States,

NATO, civilian and military, public and private, involving all partners in a single platform.

All that we shall be able to achieve and we shall also catch up with the launch. That is why I congratulate.

The German company ISR Aerospace, with a recent success.

This is a new page in the history of European launching.

Launching will be one of the key priorities in the space agenda of the Commission.

And finally, to succeed in space, of course, we need money for space, so I welcome the increased.

Investments into space,

and we propose a fivefold increase in defense and space for the next multiannual EU budget.

I call on the Member States to support our proposal. Our strategic autonomy depends on it.

Our future in space and our security on Eth depends on it. Thanks a lot.