The governments of the European Union states need to be willing to intervene in international crises or risk prolonging paralysis in their foreign policy, the EU’s top diplomat said on Sunday.
“Europe has to develop an appetite for power,” the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told the Munich Security Conference, stressing that did not only mean military power.
“We should be able to act … not everyday making comments, expressing concern,” he told leaders, lawmakers and diplomats.
With new leadership in Brussels, the EU has launched into a flurry of diplomacy since January, particularly on the Middle East. But the bloc was still divided on how to react to Trump’s peace proposal for the Palestinians and Israel. Efforts to revive a maritime mission off Libya to uphold a U.N. arms embargo have run into difficulties, diplomats say. “When there is no unanimity (in the EU), the remaining majority have to act,” Borrell said.
Meanwhile Borrell has said that Europe must ensure Iran’s benefits from the nuclear deal if it wants the deal to survive. “If we want the Iran nuclear deal to survive, we need to ensure that Iran benefits if it returns to full compliance,” he wrote in an article in the Project Syndicate published on February 8.
Borrell was notified in January by Paris, London, and Berlin that they had triggered the resolution dispute mechanism. He has said that the EU will extend indefinitely the time limit to resolve disputes in the nuclear deal to avoid having to go to the UN Security Council or triggering new sanctions.
“There is an agreement that more time is needed due to the complexity of the issues involved. The timeline is therefore extended,” Borrell said in a statement on January 24.
Reuters / Tehran Times
