The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called, on the evening of Thursday 1 December, on Europeans to do even more to help Ukraine.
“We have done much more than expected, much quicker than expected, but we certainly have to do much more and continue to do what we decided to do”, he stressed at a conference entitled ‘Winning the War, Securing the Peace: EU Support for Ukraine’, organised by the Polish Institute of International Relations (PISM) in Lodz.
Explaining that Russian President Vladimir Putin expected democracies to tire, Borrell said it was necessary to “be stubborn” and “continue to support Ukraine as much as necessary and as long as necessary”.
The High Representative highlighted military, economic, political and diplomatic support.
He recalled that the EU and the Member States had made available to Ukraine almost €9 billion in military assistance, but also €19 billion in economic aid and that €18 billion in aid was under discussion for 2023. Earlier in the day, he had announced €1.2 million in support for demining operations in Ukraine under the OSCE.
Mr Borrell also said that the sanctions against Russia were working. “Russia is paying a high price for its actions, especially in critical, technological sectors”, he explained. He said he was “confident” that they would be renewed in December, for their six-monthly renewal.
The High Representative added that the EU had confiscated €300 billion from the Russian Central Bank, but also about €19 billion in assets belonging to Russian oligarchs and other supporters of Vladimir Putin and that discussions were underway to use these funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Mr Borrell said it would be “strange” if Russia destroyed Ukraine but the rest of the world paid for the reconstruction.
The High Representative also recalled that Ukraine had been granted candidate status for EU membership, while acknowledging that accession would not take place “tomorrow or the next year”, as it is difficult for a country at war, without electricity, to make the reforms required. “The first priority is to resist and survive. Reforms will come, but first we have to win the war”, he explained.
In addition, the EU continues its efforts at international level to share its position on the war in Ukraine. According to Mr Borrell, while third countries share this position, many focus on the consequences of war, energy and food.
The lack of food in Africa in particular will cause “more anger, more political instability, and more migration at our borders, so more pressure at our borders. For Putin, it is also a weapon”, he warned. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)