EU stands ready to defend itself against coercion, Costa says

The European Union will defend itself against any form of coercion and will protect the international rules-based order and international law, EU Council President Antonio Costa said on Wednesday.

"We stand ready to defend ourselves, our member states, our citizens, our companies, against any form of coercion. And the European Union has the power and the tools to do so," Costa said in a speech in European Parliament.

"We cannot accept that the law of the strongest prevails over the rights of the weakest," Costa said.

"Because international rules are not optional. And alliances cannot just boil down to a sequence of transactions."

-Lili Bayer and Inti Landauro/Reuters