FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
BRUSSELS — “The EU has shown strength, it has reacted in a determined manner by assuming its responsibilities in the face of the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine, demonstrating full support for Kiev. He wasn’t obvious. Stefano Sannino, Secretary General of the European External Action Service (the EU Foreign Ministry), also recalls «the complexities that the EU has had to face both for the different sensitivities and for the economic impact. But what has emerged is a Union that is much more aware of its own abilities, of the will to be master of its own destiny and to be ready to pay the price of security». The war marked a turning point: for the first time the EU states supplied arms to a third country in a conflict.
The UN General Assembly has approved a resolution for Russia’s unconditional withdrawal and a just peace, which however does not coincide with Zelensky’s plan.
«We have always given full political support to Zelensky’s peace plan but we have also understood together with Kiev the need to find a broad formulation to be submitted to the vote that was not limited to the conflict, but that had a dimension capable of expressing concern for unilateral actions that violate the territorial integrity of a country and that are contrary to the principles of the UN Charter to aggregate a greater consensus».
Kiev is asking for more weapons and ammunition. How is the EU doing?
«On a strategy that is divided into three directions. First, immediately give Kiev the ammunition it needs from state stocks. Second, accelerate munitions production by aggregating demand to replenish stocks. Thirdly, to strengthen the production capacity of the European military industry.’
The war reaffirmed the centrality of NATO and the United States. Is the “strategic compass” outdated?
«It would be a grave mistake to think that the security of the European continent does not pass through NATO or a strong alliance with the United States. And let’s not forget that 21 EU countries – we hope 23 soon when Sweden and Finland join – are part of it. The EU was not conceived and structured as a military alliance but it can offer, and is doing so, an essential contribution to world security. The work begun with the “Strategic Compass” goes in this direction, of an EU subject and provider of security in a broader sense».
How?
“War is not fought only in the field of weapons but also with the fight against disinformation, cyber-attacks, with energy diversification, with the reduction of critical dependencies”.
After Kiev, Biden went to Warsaw and not to Brussels. Is it the demonstration of the limits of the EU in foreign policy, lacking a single interlocutor?
‘It is recognition of Poland’s special role and commitment to this war. It has taken in millions of refugees. Most of the weapons destined for Kiev go through there. We continue to compare the US and the EU as if they were two homogeneous identities, but they are not. The USA is a federal country with a government and a president. The EU is a union of 27 sovereign states with 27 heads of state and government governed by a balance between its various institutions”.
Has the war shifted the balance of the EU eastward?
‘Countries that found themselves on the front lines received increased attention and expressed their concerns not only about what was happening in Ukraine but also about the potential consequences for their countries. As President Ursula von der Leyen said: “We haven’t listened to them enough”.