On Monday 4 September, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini underlined the need for a non-military solution to the North Korean ballistic and nuclear tests.
"You can, must be strong and peaceful. Being peaceful doesn't mean to be weak, but being strong doesn't mean to go the military way because there is no military solution to these tensions. Any attack could easily spiral into a large-scale conflict. It would be useless and harmful. The consequences would be unpredictable, certainly dramatic for the people of the Korean peninsula, for the region and most likely for the world", Mogherini said in a speech at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia. The USA has threatened Pyongyang with "a massive military response".
Mogherini nevertheless agreed that there was no easy response to ease the tension and attain the objective of denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, saying that denuclearisation could only be obtained through "maximum pressure". She again underlined the importance of the "determination, diplomacy and (...) unity" of the international community.
"The path undertaken by North Korea is dangerous, irresponsible and illegal. They are playing with fire and the flames could rapidly spread to the entire region and the all world", Mogherini warned.
On the sidelines of the Bled Strategic Forum, Mogherini met the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation, Lassina Zerbo, and the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)