The European Union runs the risk of losing its status as a full-fledged player in the international arena and becoming only an object of the policy of world powers.

This opinion was expressed in his blog by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

“Today, Europeans are increasingly at risk of becoming an object rather than a player in international affairs, reacting to other people's decisions, instead of shaping events themselves,” Borrell said.

According to him, this may result from the current tendencies of strengthening confrontation with China and the expansion of multipolar dynamics.

In the first case, the head of European diplomacy cited as an example the defense alliance AUKUS recently concluded between the United States, Great Britain and Australia, the purpose of which is to ensure security in the Indo-Pacific region.

“We see a multipolar dynamic in which players like Russia and others seek to expand their space for maneuver and influence at the regional or global level.

Quite often they act to the detriment of the values ​​and interests of the European Union, as we see in Syria, Libya, Mali, ”Borrell said.

In this regard, he expressed his conviction that the EU should direct all efforts to strengthen its military potential, discarding unnecessary discussions.

“We should avoid our usual tendency towards abstract and, frankly, divisive debates about whether we should strengthen our own European security capabilities or do it in NATO.

It is clear that we need to do both.

The stronger we become as an EU, the stronger NATO will be, ”Borrell said.

  • Head of European Diplomacy Josep Borrell

  • AP

  • © Julien Warnand

The head of European diplomacy noted that now the EU is more of a regional player, focused only on economic and political opportunities, while a tough approach involving the use of military force, apparently, seems to him "too difficult".

In addition, the diplomat believes, the United States expects from the European Union greater responsibility for its own security.

“As ... recent events, including the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan and (formation. -

RT

) AUKUS, have shown, our American friends expect from us Europeans that we will bear a greater share of the responsibility for our own and global security,” Borrell stressed.

According to him, the answer to this will be the development of a foreign policy concept "Strategic Compass of the EU", which provides for an action plan until 2030.

In particular, within its framework, issues will be identified on combating hybrid threats and protecting the interests of the EU in cyber, maritime and outer space, Borrell said.

Military strength of Europe

In early September, he announced that the approval of a new European security concept is scheduled for March 2022.

In particular, within its framework, the issue of creating its own military rapid reaction forces should be resolved to carry out specific tasks that do not require a significant military presence.

“We are contemplating operations such as securing an airport or resolving a specific crisis that require fewer people, albeit much better trained and equipped,” Borrell said.

In this regard, he noted that we are talking about the size of the group not exceeding 5 thousand servicemen.

At the same time, the diplomat admitted that not all EU countries support this idea.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also criticized it.

In his opinion, the European Union should not try to become autonomous from the bloc and disrupt communication with North America.

“You need to make sure that Europe and North America are on the same page.

Any attempt to weaken the ties between North America and Europe will not only weaken NATO, but also split Europe, ”he said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph.

In addition, the NATO Secretary General emphasized, European security is largely ensured by non-EU countries.

“Any attempts to create parallel structures, duplicate command structure, will weaken our joint potential for cooperation, since with limited resources it is necessary to prevent duplication of efforts,” Stoltenberg said.

  • European Parliament

  • Reuters

  • © Julien Warnand

The initiative on the European armed forces was also opposed in Sweden.

According to the Minister of Defense of the country Peter Hultqvist, this direction should not be the main one in solving urgent problems.

The opposite opinion is held in Italy.

Thus, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at the end of September that the EU should have a "more impressive" defense capability.

“We need to acquire a defense system much more impressive and it is necessary to spend much more than until now on defense, because the international component, in which we were confident, turned out to be much less interested in Europe,” Draghi quoted TASS.

In the wake of the US course

Experts believe that the new statements by Josep Borrell that strengthening the defense potential of the European Union is in the interests of the United States are evidence of his attempt to justify Washington's disdain for the EU as an ally.

“The argument Borrell used is revealing.

He again nods to the United States and thereby confirms the dependence of European politics and the European view of the world on Washington, "Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy, explained in an interview with RT.

Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, agrees with him.

According to him, Europe is unlikely to be able to exist separately from the United States militarily in the near future, therefore, even despite the disagreements, it will continue allied relations with Washington.

“Europeans are afraid to exist alone in that“ hostile ”world, where China, Russia are raging and other players such as India are rising.

For the EU, the United States is the leading capitalist country in the Western world, and they are betting on it, as they fear being left without an American "umbrella," Blokhin said.

At the same time, he noted that the United States is no longer as powerful as the European Union still thinks.

“The United States is no longer as hegemonic as it was in the mid-1990s.

Now the United States is only one of the leading countries.

In addition, they no longer want to be particularly concerned with ensuring the security of their allies, but tend to delegate a number of functions to them.

Therefore, the EU is beginning to understand that now the Americans will not do all the dirty work for them, ”the analyst said.

  • US military leaves Afghanistan

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Keystone Press Agency / Sra Taylor Crul / US Air

As Vadim Kozyulin noted, the European Union has been discussing the idea of ​​its own armed forces for a long time, but previously there was no reason to implement it.

Now, with the change in the vector of US interests and the transfer of its attention to the distant Asia-Pacific region, Brussels decided to reactivate discussions about its armed forces.

“Since the United States is now interested in creating military alliances in the Asia-Pacific region, the role of Europe for them is decreasing.

Therefore, the Europeans will gradually create their own armed forces.

But, creating them, it is necessary to justify what goals and objectives they will solve.

And as one of such justifications, Russia and the fight against its influence, as Borrell said, is quite suitable, ”said Kozyulin.

After all, as the expert emphasized, the current role of Russia in the world, the strengthening of its position in the international arena, contradicts the ideas about it in Brussels.

“Russia is pursuing its independent policy and the European Union has been observing this for two decades already.

And this state of affairs does not correspond to his ideas about how the Russian Federation should have developed.

Brussels has always hoped that Russia will be a junior partner of the European Union and the United States, but their expectations were not met, "said the interlocutor of RT.

According to him, in this regard, the EU should not attempt to contain Moscow, but to conduct a dialogue with it and seek compromise solutions.

“But we see that our representatives at NATO are being expelled.

They are trying to resist the strengthening of Russia both in deed and in word, instead of conducting a dialogue with it, as with an equal side, ”concluded Kozyulin.