At the end of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, on Monday 15 December, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, spoke briefly about the exchange between European ministers on China.
The subject was not at the top of the agenda during the day’s discussions, while the subject of the ‘Reparations Loan’ for Ukraine was on everyone’s mind, in the run-up to a decision expected at the European Summit at the end of the week (see other news).
Ms Kallas nevertheless warned the press that China was “increasingly weaponizing economic ties for political gains”.
Referring to the European Commission’s recent publication of a common economic strategy (see EUROPE 13765/5), the head of European diplomacy stressed the importance of diversifying the supply of critical minerals.
“Today, the ministers discussed how we can better deploy our trade arsenal to strengthen Europe’s resilience. No European country can match China on its own. Unity is the strength here too”, she concluded. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)