António Costa (European Council) following the Partners for Multilateralism Summit - Media Stakeout

Hello, good evening. Thank you for joining us this evening following the first summit of partners for multilateralism. The President of the European Council, Mr. Antonio Costa, will debrief you on behalf of the co-sponsors. Mr. President, you have the floor.

Good evening. Today, leaders from across the world came together in New York with a clear message. International law matters, cooperation matters, and the United Nations remains at the heart of our collective efforts for peace and prosperity. Today, we launch the Partners for Multilateralism, an initiative co-sponsored by Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, India, Kenya, and the European Union. We come from different continents, We have different histories and perspectives, but we share a fundamental conviction. The challenges we face cannot be solved by any country acting alone. And we share a common purpose to help hold international law, strengthen multilateral cooperation, and deliver peace and prosperity for our people. Because there can be no lasting peace without prosperity, and no lasting prosperity without peace. Neither can endure without international law, effective institutions, and international cooperation. From climate change to global health, from technological transformation to international security, the challenges of our time demand collective solutions. And our response must be collective, too. This is why today's meeting is not an end in itself. It is the beginning of a joint effort to turn our shared principles into concrete action. We invite all members of the international community to endorse the declaration adopted today, to join this initiative and to help shape its next steps. We have tasked our senior officials with establishing a coordination channel and identifying priority areas where we can work together and deliver concrete results. The European Union High Representative, Kaja Kallas, will coordinate this effort on behalf of the European Union. Today's meeting has demonstrated something important. In a world of growing divisions, there is still a strong shared commitment to cooperation. And that commitment extends across continents, regions, and political traditions. The road ahead will not be easy. But today, we have shown that we are not walking it alone. We are building a partnership open to all those who believe in international law, in the United Nations, and in the power of working together. We are stronger when we act together. And together, we can turn our shared principles into concrete results. Thank you very much.

President Costa, I'm Marina Usher with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. You've just co-launched Partners for Multilateralism with Canada, Brazil, Kenya, and the other members you mentioned, while the EU explores associate membership for Canada. What does this deepening partnership with Canada mean for the multilateral system?

Well, We are cosponsoring this event with Australia, with Barbados, with Brazil, with Canada, with India, with Kenya, and of course, the European Union. But a part of this, we believe in the multilateral system. The European Union is a great example of an organization who was born from the ashes of Second World War, to bring prosperity and peace to the European continent. And we are committed to engage with our partners around the world. Of course, Canada is a very special partner. We are like-minded partners. We have very strong trade relationship. We share the same values. We are neighbors. and we have the common determination to become more and more close as possible. And this expression means that we want to be closest as possible between the European Union and Canada. We will look in this direction, and I'm looking forward for the next summit, EU-Canada, next month in Canada. Thank you.

Hi. Sid Chribobson with Pass Blue. My question is about the Partnership for Multilateralism. This initiative emphasizes that its goal is to strengthen rather than replace institutions like the UN. Given that institutions like the UN heavily weight the voice of superpower countries over the middle powers, do you think this initiative can succeed within the existing framework of the UN?

This initiative don't want to replace UN, wants to strengthen UN and the other multilateral institutions. This is not an option. This is not idealism. It's something that we need, because only collectively we can address the challenge that we are living today. That's why we build this net of co-sponsors from all the different continents with a common purpose. And we gather all these different member states of the European of the United Nations to say very to send a very simple message. Only together we can act with effectivity to and to tackle and address the different issues that we need to address at the global level.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.