On Saturday 3 June, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called for closer security and defence cooperation between Europeans and Asians.
“Europe and Asia are directly concerned by each other's security, and we must work together to avoid confrontation in the region”, he explained in a speech at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore, arguing that it is in the Asian region that the risks of a new military confrontation are greatest.
While acknowledging that the EU was not a traditional military alliance, Mr Borrell pointed out that the EU Member States had a certain technological capacity which they wanted to develop in order to become a ‘smart enabler’, investing in shared security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. “We need each other. We need to stabilise this world. The challenges we are facing don’t let other solutions than strong cooperation”, he said.
The High Representative pointed out that last year, worldwide military spending reached a record level of 2,200 billion dollars. In his view, apart from showing that “people feel insecure and, and in order to look for security, they go and buy arms”, “it shows that we must do more to build trust and address regional tensions”.
“It is our common responsibility to defend security principles whenever and wherever they are threatened – be it in Ukraine or in the South China Sea or anywhere else”, added Mr Borrell.
Furthermore, according to Mr Borrell, the war in Ukraine is changing the role of Europeans in terms of security and defence. While Europe “remains a project for peace and about peace”, Mr Borrell made it clear that it had to defend “its interests, its strategic domains, be it on land, in space, be it maritime, or in cyberspace”. In his view, a “more capable Europe” is a better and more competent partner for Asia.
In the face of growing tensions, from the South China Sea to the Taiwan Strait and North Korea, “the European Union will always defend international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the non-proliferation regime”, warned Mr Borrell. He welcomed the increase in security cooperation with ASEAN, citing regional naval exercises and participation in Operation Atalanta.
Mr Borrell also highlighted the security and defence dialogues, notably with China, Japan, India and South Korea. “This type of cooperation can be more than just a dialogue (...), it has to be made as concrete and operational as possible”, he said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)