• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Speech by President António Costa at the second meeting of the "In Defense of Democracy: Fighting Against Extremism" initiative

European Council / Council of the European Union

European Council
Speech
24 September 2025 18:00

[Check against delivery in Spanish]

Dear friends, thank you very much for inviting me here. Today, I want to share three messages with you all.

My first message is that democracy is not just another ideology.

Democracy is the system that makes coexistence and the peaceful transition of power between different ideological visions possible. Democracy cannot be ascribed any colour, race or nationality. Democracy belongs to humanity. If we limit it to partisan conflict, we weaken it and betray its essence, which is to be the common ground where political differences are resolved.

My second message is that democracy is everyone's heritage and needs all democrats.

Both the progressives and the conservatives. It requires the two sides to acknowledge each other within the same democratic sphere. The greatest risk today comes not only from extremist attacks, but also from moderate parties drifting towards authoritarian positions. That is why democracy must be a shared commitment, going beyond any ideological border.

The specific contribution that progressives can make today is to combat new inequalities. These include difficulties in accessing housing, which is eroding the middle class and harming young people, above all. Because there will be no strong democracy without a strong middle class. And democracy will have no future if young people are excluded.

We must do everything we can to ensure that the parties at the political centre remain the backbone of the democratic system. Because democracy must be a shared commitment, going beyond any ideological border. Because democracy means dialogue and commitment.

My third message is that democracy loses out if we pit it against technological progress.

We must learn how to strengthen democracy with the tools that technological progress offers us. It is true that anti-democratic movements have been effective in using technology to distort public debate. We must regulate digital services in a way that protects our freedoms. This is why, with the European Digital Services Act, we are pushing ahead with clear regulations for online platforms in order to curb the spread of fake news.

We also need global coordination to combat the disinformation spread by authoritarian movements. But technology does not 'belong' to anyone: it is a tool and has historically also served democratic causes. The fact that Leni Riefenstahl used cinema for Nazi propaganda did not make all cinema Nazi, and similarly, just because some people use the internet to spread poison does not mean that we should give up on the technology. We need to show that it can strengthen freedom and public discourse.

In short, defending democracy means keeping it alive, open and capable of renewal; it means understanding that it belongs to everyone and that it is inseparable from human progress.

Thank you very much.