“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

With this iconic Charles Dickens quote, Ursula von der Leyen began her one-hour-long State of the Union speech in Strasbourg, laying out solutions to cope with the “exceptional” challenges and the “incredible” change that Europe is undergoing.

“In this world, Europe has chosen to forge its own path. And a stronger, independent Europe is now emerging,” she told lawmakers.

“Europe is there for Europeans. And that in the cold fragility of today’s world, only Europe can provide true sovereignty to Europeans.”

Here are the five takeaways from the address.

‘Associate membership’ for Canada

This was…

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