Von der Leyen’s pitch for EU security council involves Canada, but it’s not clear how

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a new European Security Council to include Canada, Britain, and Ukraine among its partners. However, defence experts in Canada are unsure what the council and Canada's involvement would ultimately entail. Von der Leyen's speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg was in response to emerging hybrid threats that fall below the threshold of armed military attacks.

The EU's top bureaucrat cited recent incidents, such as a drone attack on an airport in Leipzig last month, which many in Europe attribute to Russia. The idea for the new security body coincides with concerns in Europe about the reliability of the United States in a security crisis under President Donald Trump. Canada's former ambassador to NATO, Kerry Buck, noted that while there are potential benefits to a security council focusing on issues such as cyber attacks or disinformation, without further details it's unclear how effective such a council would be.