LONDON

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed that Europe must step up efforts to build a stronger European pillar within NATO while safeguarding transatlantic ties, according to a statement on Saturday.

Meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the EU Commission chief and the British premier reaffirmed their commitment to continue work that will bolster collective defenses "in the face of growing threats to European security."

"They agreed that Europe needs to step up and work towards becoming a more European NATO, while protecting our strong transatlantic ties," Starmer's office said in the statement.

Sharing his "high ambition" for the future UK-EU partnership, Starmer set out his desire for further integration across the economy, defense, and technology.

During the meeting, the pair committed to take forward further work ahead of the next UK-EU summit and also agreed to double down on existing negotiations to reach a food and drink deal which could lower prices.

In his address at the conference earlier on Saturday, Starmer said Europe must focus on decreasing "some dependencies," and called for creating a "more European NATO."