Prime Minister Mark Carney signed a security partnership between the European Union and Canada to enhance cooperation on military purchases, shifting away from its reliance on U.S. procurement.
“We can nostalgically look back and long for the old order to somehow return, or we can build a new one with purpose and partnership,” said Carney during a press conference in Brussels on Monday.
The prime minister spoke alongside European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“And as the most European of the non-European countries, Canada looks first to the European Union to build a better world,” said Carney.
The press conference announced Canada’s involvement with Security Action for Europe ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague on Tuesday.
The procurement program will allow Canada to partner in the bloc’s ReArm Europe initiative.
The final details of Canada’s access to SAFE still have to be negotiated and will require purchase-by-purchase agreements led by EU leaders.
The program is also a sign that Canada is pivoting away from its reliance on the United States for military aid and procurement.
Carney said the world has become “more dangerous and divided” and that “the rules-based global order is under threat.”
Carney and EU leaders also signed a separate joint statement to “condemn threats to the independent functioning” of the International Criminal Court, “including measures against individual officials.”
The statement was in response to the Trump administration’s sanctioning of four ICC judges for alleged “transgressions” against the U.S. and Israel earlier this month.
Canada and the EU also committed to renewed support for Ukraine “for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed” and to “increase pressure on Russia, including through further sanctions and taking measures to prevent their circumvention.”
Additionally, the joint statement called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages.
“We express our deepest concern at the dangerous escalation following Israeli strikes on Iran and Iran’s response,” it said.
“We reiterate our strong commitment to peace and stability in the Middle East, including the security of Israel, and call on all sides to show restraint and abide by international law. We have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”