By LORNE COOK, Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s most powerful official warned Wednesday that Europe is battling against a series of threats posed by Russia, new global trade challenges and even other major world powers and must stake claim to its independence.

In a State of the Union speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced new measures to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s full-scale invasion, and she called for trade restrictions and sanctions on Israel over the war in Gaza.

She also defended the deal she reached with U.S. President Donald Trump to limit the impact of his global tariff war, despite agreeing to a 15% duty rate for most European exports to the United States.

Fight for values

“Europe is in a fight,” von der Leyen told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. “A fight for our values and our democracies. A fight for our liberty and our ability to determine our destiny for ourselves. Make no mistake — this is a fight for our future.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gestures as she delivers a major state of the union speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)

“Battle lines for a new world order based on power are being drawn right now,” she said, adding that the EU “must fight for its place in a world in which many major powers are either ambivalent or openly hostile to Europe.”

“This must be Europe’s independence moment,” said the 66-year-old former German defense minister, who has become a prominent figure at summits with leaders around the world, despite her role as a political appointee who hasn’t been elected to office.

The commission is the EU’s executive arm. It proposes laws that impact the lives of around 450 million people across 27 countries, and monitors whether those rules are respected.

In recent years, it has helped Europe to survive fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, break its dependency on Russian energy supplies and cope with a trade war launched by a traditional ally like the U.S.

Russian aggression

Turning to Russia’s war on Ukraine, now in its fourth year, von der Leyen said that Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of ending the war, and that “our response must be clear too.”

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“We need more pressure on Russia to come to the negotiation table. We need more sanctions,” she said. The commission and EU member countries are working on a new raft of sanctions targeting Russia’s energy revenues.

Poland said Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered its territory over the course of several hours and were shot down with help from NATO allies.

Von der Leyen condemned the “reckless and unprecedented violation of Poland and Europe’s airspace.”

“Europe stands in full solidarity with Poland,” she said. “Putin’s message is clear, and our response must be clear, too. We need more pressure on Russia to come to the negotiation table. We need more sanctions.”

Ukraine’s economy

Von der Leyen also said that new ways to address Ukraine’s financial challenges must also come through the use of frozen Russian assets in Europe. Almost $235 billion worth of those assets are being held in a Belgian clearing house.

Interest earned on the assets – around $4.1 billion were generated last year – are already being used to help prop up Ukraine’s war-ravaged economy. Von der Leyen said that a “reparations loan” for damage inflicted by Russia is being weighed.

She also announced the creation of a “drone alliance” with Ukraine – drones have become a decisive factor in the war – with $7 billion in funds for the effort.

Freezing support to Israel

To applause in the parliament, the commission chief said that she wants to freeze some financial support to Israel, and to impose trade restrictions and sanctions on the government over the war in Gaza.

Breaking with her traditionally very strong pro-Israeli government stance, von der Leyen said that the events in Gaza and the suffering of children and families “has shaken the conscience of the world.”

“Man-made famine can never be a weapon of war. For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity. This must stop,” she said. She added that the commission will set up a new Palestinian donor group, with a focus on Gaza’s future reconstruction.

U.S. tariff deal

Addressing criticism of the tariff deal with Trump, von der Leyen underlined that Europe depends on the United States as a major trading partner, and that the position of European businesses was improved compared to other countries that got a worse deal.

“Millions of jobs depend on” that relationship, she said. “And as president of the commission, I will never gamble with people’s jobs and livelihoods.”

FILE- President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shake hands after reaching a trade deal at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

By CLAUDIA CIOBANU and ILLIA NOVIKOV, Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland said Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered its territory over the course of several hours and were shot down with help from NATO allies, describing the incursion as an “act of aggression” carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.

The Kremlin refused to comment, but its close ally, Belarus, said it tracked some drones that “lost their course” because they were jammed. However, several European leaders said they believe that the incursion amounted to an intentional escalation by Russia of its war on Ukraine.

Poland said some of the drones came from Belarus, where Russian and Belarusian troops have begun gathering for war games starting on Friday.

Firefighters secure parts of a damaged UAV shot down by Polish authorities at a site in Czosnowka near Biala Podlaska, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Piotr Pyrkosz)

Polish airspace has been violated many times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but there has been nothing on this scale in Poland or in any other Western nation along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union. A NATO spokesman said it was the first time the alliance has confronted a potential threat in its airspace.

NATO met to discuss the incident, which came three days after Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began.

“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”

The extent of the incursion was still becoming clear: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament 19 violations were recorded over seven hours, but that information was still being gathered. Eight crash sites have been found, a government spokesperson said. Dutch fighter jets came to Poland’s aid and intercepted some drones, the Netherlands’ defense minister said.

“This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens,” the Polish military’s operational command said on social media.

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Russia to put an end to “this reckless escalation,” while Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called the violation “a test of NATO countries’ defense capabilities.”

Poland says some drones came from Belarus

Tusk told parliament that the first violation came at approximately 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and the last around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. He said that the 19 violations recorded so far were “not the final data.”

Earlier, Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10 objects crossed into Polish airspace, but he did not specify an exact number.

General Wieslaw Kukula, center, chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces during at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister for an extraordinary government meeting, following violations of Polish airspace during a Russian attack. in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland via AP)

“What is new, in the worst sense of the word, is the direction from which the drones came. This is the first time in this war that they did not come from Ukraine as a result of errors or minor Russian provocations. For the first time, a significant portion of the drones came directly from Belarus,” Tusk said in parliament.

Belarusian Maj. Gen. Pavel Muraveiko, the chief of the General Staff chief and first deputy defense minister, appeared to try to put some distance between his country and the incursion.

In an online statement, he said that as Russia and Ukraine traded drone strikes overnight, Belarusian air defense forces tracked “drones that lost their course” after they were jammed, adding that Belarusian forces warned their Polish and Lithuanian counterparts about “unidentified aircraft” approaching their territory.

“This allowed the Polish side to respond promptly to the actions of the drones by scrambling their forces on duty,” Muraveiko said.

Drones were found in seven locations in Poland, according to Karolina Galecka, spokeswoman for Ministry of Interior and Administration. At the eighth site, objects of an unknown origin were found.

Bernard Blaszczuk, mayor of the village of Wyryki in Lublin region, told TVP Info that a house was hit. Much of the roof was ripped off. He said people were inside but nobody was hurt.

On Wednesday morning, the army was keeping guard on the streets of the village as curious locals huddled together with police and firefighters to figure out what happened.

Poland closed part of its airspace for several hours, and Warsaw’s Chopin Airport suspended flights.

NATO members vow support, with Baltic countries rattled

NATO air defenses supported Poland in what spokesman Col. Martin O’Donnell called “the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.”

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Tusk told parliament consultations with allies were taking place under Article 4 of the NATO treaty – a clause that allows countries to call for urgent discussions with their allies. The consultations happened at a pre-planned meeting on Wednesday. They do not automatically lead to any action under Article 5, which is NATO’s collective security guarantee.

Dutch F-35 fighter jets “intercepted drones over Poland,” Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on X. And German Patriot defense systems in Poland were also placed “on alert,” and an Italian airborne early warning plane and an aerial refueler were launched, O’Donnell said.

NATO, he said, “is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace.”

Leaders in the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — the NATO members most nervous about Russian aggression given their close proximity — were among the most rattled and expressed deep concerns.

“Russia is deliberately expanding its aggression, posing an ever-growing threat to Europe,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that the overnight attacks on Ukraine and violations of Polish airspace were “yet another stark reminder that Russia is not just a threat to Ukraine, but to all of Europe and NATO.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it an “extremely dangerous precedent for Europe” and called for Russia to “feel the consequences.”

“Moscow always tests the limits of what is possible and, if it does not encounter a strong response, remains at a new level of escalation,” he said. “Not just one Shahed (drone), which could be dismissed as an accident, but at least eight attack drones that were aimed in the direction of Poland.”

Objects have entered Polish airspace before

Poland has complained about Russian objects entering its airspace during attacks on Ukraine before.

In August, Poland’s defense minister said that a flying object that crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland was identified as a Russian drone, and called it a provocation by Russia.

In March, Poland scrambled jets after a Russian missile briefly passed through Polish airspace on its way to a target in western Ukraine, and in 2022, a missile that was likely fired by Ukraine to intercept a Russian attack landed in Poland, killing two people.

Russian attacks hit central and western Ukraine

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Air Force says Russia fired 415 strike and decoy drones, as well as 42 cruise missiles and one ballistic missiles overnight.

Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or jammed 386 drones and 27 cruise missiles, according to the report.

One person was killed and one injured in Zhytomyr region overnight, regional administration head Vitalii Bunechko wrote on Telegram, while homes and businesses were damaged.

Russian drones injured three people in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, its head Serhii Tiurin wrote on Telegram early Wednesday morning. He said a sewing factory was destroyed, a gas station and vehicles were damaged, and windows in several houses were blown out.

In Vinnytsia region, Russian drones damaged “civilian and industrial infrastructure,” according to regional head Natalia Zabolotna. Nearly 30 residential buildings were damaged and one person was injured.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report on Wednesday that it had destroyed 122 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions overnight, including over the illegally annexed Crimea and areas of the Black Sea.

Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. AP writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 10, the 253rd day of 2025. There are 112 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 10, 2008, the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) was powered up for the first time, successfully firing the first beam of protons through its 17-mile underground ring tunnel.

Also on this date:

In 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council in Virginia.

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In 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.

In 1960, running barefoot, Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the Olympic marathon in Rome, becoming the first Black African to win Olympic gold.

In 1960, Hurricane Donna, a dangerous Category 4 storm blamed for 364 deaths, struck the Florida Keys.

In 1963, 20 Black students entered Alabama public schools following a standoff between federal authorities and Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace.

In 1979, four Puerto Rican nationalists imprisoned for a 1954 attack on the U.S. House of Representatives and a 1950 attempted killing of President Harry S. Truman were freed from prison after being granted clemency by President Jimmy Carter.

In 1987, Pope John Paul II arrived in Miami, where he was welcomed by President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan as he began a 10-day tour of the United States.

In 1991, the Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. The proceedings would become a watershed moment in the discussion of sexual harassment when Anita Hill, a law professor who had previously worked under Thomas, came forward with allegations against him.

In 2005, teams of forensic workers and cadaver dogs fanned out across New Orleans to collect the corpses left behind by Hurricane Katrina.

In 2022, King Charles III was officially proclaimed Britain’s monarch in a pomp-filled ceremony two days after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Today’s Birthdays:

Scientist-author Jared Diamond is 88.
Singer José Feliciano is 80.
Former Canadian first lady Margaret Trudeau is 77.
Political commentator Bill O’Reilly is 76.
Rock musician Joe Perry (Aerosmith) is 75.
Actor Amy Irving is 72.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, is 71.
Actor-director Clark Johnson is 71.
Actor Kate Burton is 68.
Film director Chris Columbus is 67.
Actor Colin Firth is 65.
Cartoonist Alison Bechdel is 65.
Baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson is 62.
Actor Raymond Cruz is 61.
Rapper Big Daddy Kane is 57.
Film director Guy Ritchie is 57.
Actor Ryan Phillippe (FIHL’-ih-pee) is 51.
Ballerina Misty Copeland is 43.
Former MLB All-Star Joey Votto is 42.

Byron Buxton stole a base in the first inning of Tuesday’s game, putting him one step closer to potentially booming the first Twins player to become a member of the 30-30 club.

And that, it turns out, was one of the only things to like for the Twins in Tuesday night’s game, a 12-2 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium in a game in which the offense was mostly quieted and the pitching staff gave up all 12 runs with two outs in the inning.

Buxton, back in the lineup after being hit by a pitch on the knee on Sunday, had two of those hits and took off after the first one, swiping his 22nd base of the season. Earlier on the road trip, the center fielder accomplished the first half of the feat, hitting his 30th home run of the season.

There were few other highlights for the Twins (64-81) on a night where they could not muster anything off soft-tossing starter Kyle Hendricks, who went seven innings in his start and allowed just four hits.

“Hendricks has a very unique way of pitching and there’s almost nobody else in the game that pitches like him,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He threw good changeups today. He got us expanding on that pitch. … We just didn’t have the answer tonight.”

Buxton, who reached third base in the first inning, was the only Twins runner to make it that far against Hendricks, who pitched with a lead for much of the night.

Coming off of consecutive quality starts, Zebby Matthews ran into trouble immediately, allowing hits to the first two batters he faced. The Angels (68-77) broke through with two outs in the first inning with Luis Rengifo delivering a two-run single. The third run of the inning came around to score on a double steal with Rengifo drawing a throw to second, allowing Taylor Ward to take home.

Opposing hitters were hitting .341 with a .982 OPS off Matthews with two outs in an inning coming into the day, and the starter continued to run into issues in those situations on Tuesday.

“I don’t know if it’s the quality of pitches just aren’t the same or what it is,” Matthews said. “It could just be as simple as some bad luck. A lot can go into it, so we’ll try and definitely figure it out.”

Matthews was chased out of the game in the fifth inning after allowing another two-out run. One of his inherited runners came around to score, too, as Matthews gave up five runs in his 4 2/3 innings pitched.

Pierson Ohl, who came on in relief, gave up four runs in the sixth inning, three on a Chris Taylor home run, as the Angels broke the game wide open. An inning later, Thomas Hatch served up a three-run home run of his own.

The Twins avoided the shutout when utilityman Ryan Fitzgerald, who pitched the bottom of the eighth inning, hit a two-run home run into the right field corner in the ninth.

“Just a challenging game almost from the start,” Baldelli said. “I don’t know if it does a whole lot to dissect that game. That was not one of our good ballgames that we’ve played recently and I’d like to turn the corner from that one.”