On Monday 5 September, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, considered the need to review the ‘Strategic Compass’ in light of the war in Ukraine.
While the ‘Compass’, adopted in March, refers to the Russian threat, it was mainly drafted before the invasion of Ukraine began (see EUROPE 12915/10).
“A real war with conventional means and large movements of troops and weapons on our borders was not the scenario when the ‘Compass’ was drafted. Yes, it’s still valid and the actions have to be implemented and developed, but we have already started thinking about how to adapt the strategic compass to this new situation”, he explained in a speech via video conference to the Inter-parliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy.
According to Borrell, the “new situation” will determine the future of EU-Russia relations and the new geopolitical lines in the world.
The High Representative said that a first progress report on the ‘Strategic Compass’ is expected by the first anniversary of its adoption, in March 2023. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)