German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called for a more extensive German involvement in the Indo-Pacific region, noting its importance economically as well as in terms of security policy. “I think it is better for us in Europe not to lose sight of this region, or in other words, to focus on it more absolutely,” Pistorius said in Singapore, which he arrived on Friday at the start of a trip that will also take him to Indonesia and India. “The region has a central role, plays a central role with regard to international economic relations, the security of international sea lanes, but it also has central importance to world peace,” Pistorius said.
Before the launch of the “Shangri-La Dialogue” security conference, which is organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and which will continue until next Sunday, the minister warned, saying: “We cannot afford to neglect this region.”
He echoed comments made by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, who said that Asia and Europe should cooperate more on security matters. Borrell told the dpa news agency that Asian partners and the European Union should “jointly defend key security principles whenever and wherever they are threatened by tensions in the South China Sea.”
He added, “The European Union is a reliable security partner, and we invest in common security with our Asian partners, and this is very necessary in times of geopolitical instability.”
He added that the bloc “broke some taboos” in recent steps, for more cooperation on defense policy, praising the decisions taken in this regard.
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