““It seems that many in Europe have really been awakened by Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, but have not gotten out of bed yet””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
The EU publishes an annual collection of speeches and statements, which this year is called Arch of Fire. Borrell pointed to numerous military conflicts in the world, including Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
According to him, this year it was difficult for the European Union to make progress on the way to a fair settlement of the war against Ukraine, as well as the conflict in the Middle East.
In particular, the European Union allocated a total of 122 billion euros to support Ukraine, including 45 billion for military aid, and also agreed to use the proceeds from frozen Russian assets for this purpose.
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“But despite all this, we have not managed to provide Ukraine with sufficient resources to defend against constant air attacks on its civilian and energy infrastructure. The winter for Ukrainians will be very harsh, with massive power outages. We have also failed to provide Ukraine with sufficient support, including ammunition, to prevent the Russian army from advancing in Donetsk region, let alone to regain lost territory. In the autumn, the direct intervention of North Korean soldiers on the side of Russia marked a dangerous escalation and is a very worrying step towards the internationalization of the conflict,” Borrell said.
While the full-scale invasion is considered a “wake-up call for Europe,” the diplomat quoted political analyst Ivan Krastev as saying there’s a difference “between waking up and getting out of bed to act”:
“It seems that many in Europe have indeed been awakened by Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, but have not yet gotten out of bed.”
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Borrell called for such an awakening against the background of Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections and uncertainty about the further participation of the States in supporting the defense of Ukraine and Europe. He considers it necessary to further restore the defense capabilities of the EU, citing slow progress in this direction.
Josep Borrell will soon finish his work as the chief diplomat of the European Union, he will be replaced by the former prime minister of Estonia, Kaia Kallas.