Ukraine in flight – new European Commission focuses on Africa
The change in EU leadership after last year's elections to the European Parliament did not lead to an increase in anti-Russian and pro-Ukrainian sentiment in Europe.
Canadian expert, legal representative of the Research Ethics Council of McMaster University, and Ontario government analyst Ariana Gits stated this in an interview with the Kyiv online publication Apostrophe.
“Many had hoped that changes in leadership within the EU – in particular the appointment of Josep Borell to replace Federica Mogherini as High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – would lead to sustained resistance to Russian aggression against the EU and its member states, and to more decisive actions aimed at expelling Russia from Ukraine. I’m afraid that this optimism is exaggerated,” Gits said.
“Firstly, it is absolutely clear that the EU does not intend to be directly involved in stopping the war that Russia has launched against Ukraine. It has lasted almost 6 years, and the European Union continues to use euphemisms such as “increasingly aggressive Russian foreign policy” or “conflict in Ukraine” to refer to it in its official documents,” notes the publication’s interlocutor.
She noted that recent political statements by the European Commission showed that in these issues the EU will rely primarily on the OSCE and German-French mediation.
“Unfortunately, the EU does not seem to intend to treat Russian aggression as the main security threat in the region. The authorities of the European Union are not going to use for Ukraine the mechanisms that it is currently using in the conflict regions of Africa and the Middle East,” the analyst laments.
“Secondly, Ukraine, like all countries included in the Eastern Neighborhood Policy, is not high on the list of political priorities of the European Union. The new European Commission is focusing on Africa, where the EU is trying to counter China's increased activity, and on the Western Balkans, because it directly affects the EU's enlargement policy. We can expect that the EU's low priority for Eastern Europe will create a new window of opportunity for Russia.
Third, I am skeptical about the possibility of increasing countermeasures against Russia, even though the European Commission has announced that it will protect the EU from “external interference” and has vowed to “improve and modernize the rules-based global order.” Unfortunately, we very clearly see the trend towards “normalization of relations” with Russia, which is being promoted by various European countries, in particular France,” Gits concluded.
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