Brussels, (EFE).- The commitment of the European Union (EU) to listen to the defense concerns of some fifty international partners with whom it shares values and its projection as a security provider in the world focused on Tuesday the first edition of the Schuman Forum.
“It is clear that those here support a rules-based international order, with the UN at its center. We are going to continue working at the center of this international system, we have to protect it, defend it and make it stronger”, said the high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, at the end of the conference.
Promoted by Borrell, the Schuman Forum was born with the aim of being held every two years to discuss how to jointly address common challenges and threats.
“We share the same values, although perhaps not the same priorities, it is possible. So we are going to be humble, flexible and pragmatic and take into account the priorities of all our partners”, said Borrell, who encouraged the participants to express “their expectations, their points of view, their concerns” and for the EU to put ” in listening mode.
The head of community diplomacy made it clear that cooperation “is more important than ever”, since “no country acting alone can face challenges” such as the return of “power politics”, authoritarian regimes or the mix of conventional threats and hybrids.
security provider
Borrell explained the progress of the EU in integrating its defense policy one year after the entry into force of the “Strategic Compass”, the Union’s plan to gain autonomy and contribute to making it a global security provider in the coming years, approved only a month after the “brutal” Russian aggression against Ukraine, he recalled.
He acknowledged that the EU’s civil and military missions need to be “more effective” and focus not only on training partner countries’ security forces but also on the provision of equipment.
“We have the men, but not the means,” acknowledged a representative of the African Union, who called for the EU to continue on “the path of training” and the support it offers through the European Peace Support Fund. (FEAP).
Nurtured by contributions from the Member States, the FEAP has already made it possible to finance weapons for Ukraine to defend itself against the Russian invasion with 3,600 million euros.
“We must allow terrorism not to reach the Gulf of Guinea. To do this, the different armies of the region must be trained, they must be equipped, they must be trained, they must be provided with the necessary military material”, said the Minister of Defense of Niger, Alkassoum Indatou, and in this sense recalled the recent military association mission that the EU created in December with that country.
“The effort that the Europeans are making in Ukraine has changed our profile, our brand. Europe is seen differently”, considered Borrell, who stressed that other partners “want us to do for them what we have done for Ukraine” and provide them with the same type of support with that “speed”.
For Borrell, “it is a request that has to be answered.”
Multilateralism
The need to “get ahead” of conflicts through prevention was another of the principles that the participants emphasized the most.
“It is essential to be able to share information and also intelligence with countries with which you do not always share exactly the same views, but countries that often share the same interests,” stressed the Dutch Defense Minister, Kajsa Ollongren, in one of the conference round tables.
At that same table, the Spanish Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, highlighted the importance of attending to the southern flank despite the immediacy of the war in Ukraine, on European soil, and advanced that when Spain exercises in the second half of the year the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, Africa will be one of its security priorities.
The need for greater exchange of information was also made clear by the participants in areas such as the digital medium, while “more and more cyber attacks” are taking place, recalled Borrell, who also defended more joint exercises with international partners and combating disinformation.
Space and the sea are also in the crosshairs of the EU, which must work with its partners to help ensure that they are safe spaces and that their use is for the benefit of all, Robles commented.
“Partnerships make us stronger. It is not dependency, it is strength”, concluded Borrell, who advocated that the EU be “a stronger and more valuable partner within NATO, but also with the rest of the world” that wants to contribute to more peace and prosperity.
Borrell hoped to hold the next Schuman Forum “next year” before the end of his term.
