The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrellassured this Saturday that the European Union does not have the “ambition” to become a alternative to China in the Indo-Pacific, after the meeting that the European countries held today in Stockholm with some thirty leaders of the region, which was not attended by any representative from Beijing.
“No, we do not have this ambition. It is completely out of the question to be an alternative to China.” assured the high representative of the EU at the end of the meeting.
“The fact that China was not here is nothing against China,” Borrell continued, noting that “There are places where we can discuss our common interest without having to count on China.”
The high representative affirmed that the second Indo-Pacific EU forum that was held today in Stockholm, has created a “impulse” for the relations between these two regions, “very close from a security point of view.”
In this regard, Borrell said today that the EU and the Indo-Pacific have a “vital interest” for “mutual security”.
The EU, in fact, invited the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, to the meeting so that the representatives of the area “had the opportunity to listen to him”, but without the objective of “convincing anyone”, Borrell said, aware that not all countries share the same view of the war, especially India, which has abstained from UN General Assembly resolutions.
Also Pakistani Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that her work “It is not convincing another country”, when asked how China could be counted on to put pressure on Russia to end the Ukraine war.
“We are not on a crusade” assured the head of European diplomacy.
At the same time, he said that the cooperation between the EU and the Indo-Pacific region “It should go both ways.” and pointed out that “Our Pacific neighbors want the Pacific to remain a place of peace.”
Borrell also highlighted the progress made in the last year in relations between the EU and the countries of the region, including the conclusion of the free trade agreement negotiations between the EU and New Zealand, the reopening of talks with India and Thailand or the air transport pact with the ASEAN countries, or the digital cooperation agreements with Japan and South Korea.
Only 14 foreign ministers from the U attended the meeting, although all the countries were represented.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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