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News > Germany

Munich Conference: EU needs to Have More "Appetite for Power"

  • the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, during his presentation on the Munich Security Conference, February 2020.

    the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, during his presentation on the Munich Security Conference, February 2020. | Photo: EFE

Published 17 February 2020
Opinion

In this polarised world, Europe must learn to speak the language of power, said a high representative.

The Munich Security Conference closed on Sunday with a call for the European Union to work more closely together and to have more power of decision and action in international conflict management, in a context marked by differences between the EU and the United States.

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In this polarised world, Europe must "learn to speak the language of power," said the EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, speaking at the final panel of the conference, which brought together about 500 world leaders in defense, diplomacy, and intelligence in Munich, Germany.

"Saying that we are concerned does not solve anything. We need a strategic consensus that we do not have. We need to work more closely together, to have a common understanding of the threats," insisted Borrel.

The EU High Representative also addressed the need to speed up the decision-making process within the EU, referring to the hypothetical case of an EU member country proposing a naval mission to monitor the arms embargo on Libya. 

"If everyone agrees but a country without a fleet rejects it, then this action could not be taken, and is absurd," he acknowledged.

On the conflict in the Middle East, which was the focus of discussions during the three days of the international meeting, Borrell said that "we are doing too little and we are too slow. If a major crisis comes, we will not be prepared to face it."

It is no secret that the European Union has substantial differences with the present US administration, Borell added, including the Iranian nuclear treaty, from which Washington has released since 2018. 

EU needs a strong position on President Donald Trump's latest plan for the Middle East: "It is not enough to say that it will not work, we have to be able to offer something better."

Finally, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, declared on Monday that operation "Sofia" in the Mediterranean sea, aimed at combating the mafias that traffic migrants, would create a "pull factor" for irregular migration and called on the Member States to make progress on measures to support Libya.

"We will have to see what measures the member states are prepared to implement to help control the arms embargo (decreed by the UN on Libya)," Borrell told the press on his arrival at a Council of EU foreign ministers.

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