In a speech to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday 12 March, the High Representative of the Union, Josep Borrell, pledged that the EU would work “hard for the application of the values and principles” of the United Nations, adding that the EU would always provide political support to the UN.
While stressing that “the state of the world is most worrying”, the High Representative said that the situation could be worse “if it were not for the United Nations”, which, in his view, with its Charter, remains “a compass for our humanity faced with torrents of blood, rivers of hatred that sweep away anything that might resemble reason”. “The UN is a reference point in the storm, a beacon in the thick fog”, he added.
Mr Borrell said that he had “enormous” expectations for the ‘Summit of the Future’ which will be held on 22 and 23 September, with the aim of bringing together world leaders to reflect on how to lay the foundations for more effective global cooperation, adapted both to the challenges of today and to the threats of tomorrow. In his view, the Summit should provide an opportunity to reform the UN Security Council, to broaden its membership so that it “better reflects today’s world”, and to reform the financial institutions by moving “from a few billions to the many trillions needed”. He also hoped that conflict prevention would feature prominently at the Summit, as “prevention is better than a cure”.
The High Representative recalled that the EU was a strategic partner of the UN, pointing out that the two organisations worked together in 25 crisis contexts, “providing peace mediation and supporting dialogue”.
He also promised that the EU’s financial support for the UN would continue, despite the fact that, according to him, the EU and its Member States fund almost a third of the UN’s regular budget and a quarter of all its programmes. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)