EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said on Friday that the European Union was not involved enough in settling conflicts around the globe, especially those in the Middle East
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2020) EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said on Friday that the European Union was not involved enough in settling conflicts around the globe, especially those in the Middle East.
"We need to re-assume efforts to solve these conflicts. We, Europeans, have been helping the populations to deal with the consequences of conflicts, not the conflicts themselves. But now we need to solve the conflicts themselves, to involve more in the resolution from the Middle East peace process, to Syria, to Libya," Borrell said at the MED 2020 virtual conference.
The top EU diplomat then cited Russia and Turkey as examples of key international players, which managed to play major role in resolution of conflicts in Syria and Libya.
"Five years ago Turkey and Russia were not present in the Central Mediterranean, and now they are the masters of the game. We live in a multipolar world, in which there are many backdoor deals between a few players that are imposed to others," Borrell noted.
The EU foreign policy chief went on to describe the Moscow-Ankara sphere of influence in the region as the "Astanisation" process, referring to the Astana negotiating format on Syria, which leads to the exclusion of Europe from the settlement of regional conflicts in favor of Russia and Turkey.
"Russia and Turkey, first they are separated, then they converge their interests, and then they agree on sharing influence, this has happened in Syria, this is happening in Libya, this has happened also in the Caucasus [Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]. But no other actor can compete with us, the European Union, in supporting negotiated political solutions," Borrell said.
Most recently, Russia played a key role in ending hostilities in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. On November 10, the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh after weeks of hostilities in the area. Turkey played an active role in the conflict, supporting Azerbaijan.
