“Europe in the Arc of Fire”. The chief diplomat of the EU summed up the results of the year

The geopolitical environment of the world is deteriorating, and the European Union is facing numerous crises and challenges.

This was stated by the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell at the annual gathering of speeches and statements, which this year was called "Europe in the Arc of Fire".

According to Borrell, 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 total, the EU allocated €122 billion in aid to Ukraine this year, of which €45 billion is military support. The EU also allowed the use of revenues from frozen Russian assets to guarantee assistance to Ukraine in the future.

"Despite all this, we failed to provide Ukraine with sufficient resources to protect against constant air attacks on its civilian and energy infrastructure. The winter for Ukrainians will be very harsh, with massive power outages," Borrell said.

He also says that the EU has not provided Ukraine with enough ammunition to prevent the Russian army from advancing in Donetsk region, let alone to regain lost territory. And the participation of North Korean soldiers in the war against Ukraine showed a dangerous escalation and an "alarming step" towards the internationalization of the war. Borrell calls Russiaʼs war against Ukraine an "existential threat" to the European Union and says that its victory would mean the continuation of "imperial policy" against Georgia and Moldova.

The EU defense budgets have grown significantly in recent years. However, despite Russiaʼs aggression against Ukraine, progress in coordinating European military equipment supplies remains slow — only 18% of purchases are now made within the framework of cooperation, while the EU set a goal of 35% a few years ago. The European defense industry is not keeping up with rearmament either quantitatively or qualitatively: from 2022, almost 80% of additional military equipment will be purchased outside the EU.

In addition to Russiaʼs war against Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, Borrell calls for more attention to be paid to Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. The direct participation of North Korea in the war against Ukraine proves, according to Borrell, how all crisis points in the modern world are connected.

"The EU was not conceived as a defense alliance, but it can and should become a global partner in the field of maritime security, in the fight against cyber threats or the manipulation and interference of foreign propaganda," Borrell emphasizes.

• Josep Borrell will soon complete his work as the chief diplomat of the European Union — he will be replaced by the former prime minister of Estonia Kaia Kallas.

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