The EU’s future is at stake as it faces multiple crises at the same time, the bloc’s outgoing top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Monday. He added that the EU can no longer rely on the US for its defense.
Borrell painted an alarming picture of the state of world affairs to mark the release of a collection of his speeches and essays titled ‘Europe in the Arc of Fire.’ He listed conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and Africa among the key issues threatening global security.
“The events we have had to face during the last several months have – unfortunately – confirmed the diagnosis made earlier: Europe is in danger,” Borrell wrote on his office’s website.
“Our geopolitical environment is deteriorating, and conflicts and crises are multiplying on our doorstep. From Ukraine to the Middle East, via South Caucasus, the Horn of Africa or the Sahel,” he added. “All of this against a backdrop where the future US commitment to European security is becoming much more uncertain.”
The diplomat argued that Washington’s commitment “for Europe’s security as a whole has become more uncertain for the future,” given the re-election of Donald Trump.
“Our well-being and future cannot continue to depend on the mood of US voters in the Midwest every four years,” Borrell wrote, urging the bloc’s member states to boost their own defense.
He further stated that there was “a serious risk” that the Ukraine conflict “could help to solidify a coalition of the ‘rest against the West.’” He pointed to last month’s BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, and stressed that such a coalition could also “materialize” in Sahel, with UN peacekeepers leaving Mali in late 2023.
BRICS was founded in 2006 by Russia, India, China, Brazil, and South Africa. The group’s members have refused to impose sanctions on Moscow over its conflict with Kiev and continue to advocate for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis.
Russia and China have deepened economic ties in recent years, describing their relations as a “strategic partnership.” The two nuclear superpowers have also opposed the “unilateralism” of the US-led NATO alliance and said they wish to participate in the formation of a fairer model of international relations.