The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, during his speech in the European Parliament. /
According to the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, the Russian invasion of the neighboring country opens a new historical era that will mark European policies for decades to come.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, called on Wednesday for a collective effort from the citizens of Europe to lower the heating in their homes and cut economic ties with Russia in retaliation for the military offensive against Ukraine.
“Europeans need the noise of the bombs at 5 in the morning falling on Kiev to wake them up from their sleep of well-being and allow them to face the challenges that the world projects on us”, assured the head of community diplomacy in a debate on the situation in Ukraine in the European Parliament.
In this sense, he has asked to draw lessons from the coronavirus crisis and commit to collective efforts at European level in the “political crusade” against Russia, starting by limiting energy dependence as much as possible. “Cut off the gas in your homes, reduce the dependency of those who attack Ukraine and let’s commit ourselves more to a collective defense,” he summarized.
Thus, Borrell has called directly to lower the heating in houses, comparing this step with the use of the mask during the pandemic. “What we have done during the coronavirus must be done with Ukraine. A collective commitment to a historic task. We started late, but better late than never », he pointed out.
The Russian invasion of the neighboring country opens, according to Borrell, a new historical era that will mark European policies for decades to come. In this sense, he has warned that the cascade of European sanctions will have to be strengthened and maintained over time, after indicating that the initial response against Moscow is not enough.
Regarding the reinforcement of the military dimension, the High Representative has been blunt in pointing out that the EU must rethink “what it wants to be” and how to defend its values and principles from the “ring of fire” in which it is surrounded.
According to Borrell, the EU must advance the work to build collective security and defense and in this sense has called on the Member States to increase military spending, pointing to the step taken by Germany in the midst of the war in Ukraine.
“We all prefer butter to cannons,” he said, referring to how difficult it is to announce more investment in defense, but he insisted that in the current context it would be “denying reality.”
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