EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell's statements made during the visit to Moscow last week ignited a heated political debate back in Brussels, limelighting the split in the European Parliament as to where the European Union's interest belongs in its affairs with Russia
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2021) EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell's statements made during the visit to Moscow last week ignited a heated political debate back in Brussels, limelighting the split in the European Parliament as to where the European Union's interest belongs in its affairs with Russia.
Borrell's visit to Moscow took place from February 4-6.
At the press conference following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Borrell acknowledged that Moscow and Brussels held diverging stances across a whole range of issues but added that "there are issues on which we can and must work together, because when we do, we achieve good results."
As he was saying this, Russia expelled three EU diplomats one from each of Germany, Poland and Sweden over their attendance to unauthorized rallies in Moscow in support of jailed opposition activist Alexey Navalny. Berlin, Warsaw and Stockholm retaliated by expelling three Russian diplomats in a typical diplomatic tit-for-tat shortly later.
Borrell also praised Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, which Moscow recently pitched to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for approval. The top EU diplomat lauded the vaccine as "good news for the whole of mankind" and expressed hope that the EMA's approval would be quick in order to provide Europe with an alternative supplier amid delayed supplies from other vaccine producers.
Despite expectations, Borrell did not appear assertive enough in "passing clear messages," as he promised to before the visit, regarding the human rights situation in Russia and the arrest of Navalny, in particular. The diplomat voiced "deep concern," going on to say that the European Union "fully respect[s] Russia's sovereignty and its own responsibility regarding the fulfillment of its international commitments."
Many were also confused by Borrell's attack on the United States over designating Cuba as a state-sponsor of terrorism, which he said the European Union "regretted very much" and "reject[ed]."
Criticism in Brussels was also spurred by the fact that the EU foreign policy chief did not react to Lavrov's unfriendly comments on the bloc, such as calling it an "unreliable partner."
Riho Terras, a member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Estonia's former defense minister, demanded Borrell's resignation following the "humiliating" visit in an open letter, signed by 81 out of the 705 MEPs.
"Mr Borrell's misjudgement in proactively deciding to visit Moscow, and his failure to stand for the interests and values of the European Union during his visit, have caused severe damage to the reputation of the EU and to the dignity of the office of High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. We believe that the President of the European Commission should take action, if Mr Borrell does not resign by his own accord," the letter, addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, read.
Von der Leyen, however, chose to stand up for Borrell's performance in Moscow and vow her "full support" to him, as conveyed by Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer at a briefing ahead of the College of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday.
The meeting on Tuesday brought a new wave of criticism and resulted in a heated debate, which showed just how divided the European Union is vis-a-vis its eastern neighbor.
Back at home, Borrell tried to somewhat soothe his Moscow statements and muscled his criticism of Russia in the address to the European Parliament.
"In my exchange, one thing became clear: there is no intention on the Russian side to engage in a constructive discussion if we address human rights and political freedoms," Borrell said.
At the same time, the EU foreign policy chief drew a clear line between the Russian government and the Russian people, saying that Brussels "must find a way to continue engaging with Russian society."
"Russians form, mostly, a European country and an important part of the Russian population wishes to maintain strong links with the European Union and harbours genuine democratic aspirations. We should not turn our back [on] them. Maybe the Russian power wants to disengage, to disconnect from Europe, but we should not disconnect from the Russian civil society, from the Russian people," Borrell said.
While this reverse of discourse by the EU foreign policy chief failed to appease the angry lawmakers, the resignation of such a seasoned diplomat is hardly possible, if only because he has the support of Germany for keeping the contact line with Moscow open.
Germany's support roots in two good reasons. First, they want the completion of Nord Stream 2, an offshore gas pipeline pumping gas directly from Russia across the Baltic Sea bed. The United States has long tried to torpedo the project, but rumors begin to emerge that the pipeline might eventually be completed if Germany agrees to build an LNG terminal for US liquefied natural gas.
The second reason is that German Chancellor Angela Merkel personally declared her support for the Sputnik V vaccine and said that Germany could start producing it once the EMA's authorization comes through. Europe badly needs vaccine doses amid delayed supplies as a result of poorly negotiated deals with big pharmaceutical companies.
French MEP Thierry Mariani (RN) is one of the representatives of populists in the Committee for Foreign Affairs at the European Parliament. In his reaction to Borrell's Moscow visit on Tuesday, he described it as "courageous, realistic and necessary."
"Mr. Borrell, intellectually we come from very different families and I have never hesitated to tell you how questionable your interventions sometimes seem to me. But this time I want to pay tribute to you," Mariani said, going on to add that the debate in parliament "proves that the EU cannot have a unified diplomacy. You saw it yourself, since your allies were all ready to stab you in the back before your trip was even finished."
The lawmaker called on Borrell to "stop the hypocrisy" and not forget to also look East when pursuing Euro-Atlantic policies.
"We are not naive and we know that Russia will pursue its interests in its relations with Brussels. As far as Europe is concerned, we are (unfortunately) pursuing the interests of other countries in our relations with Moscow. We must stop being the laughing stock of the world by giving moral lessons to the whole world as we continue to be friendly with Turkey or Pakistan. Foreign policy is about power. Russian power is there," Mariani said.
Speaking to Sputnik, the lawmaker said that Brussels "must regret the growing hostility of European member states to Russia."
"It must be recognized that this is mainly the attitude of the new member countries of central Europe, starting with the Baltic states," he added.
The lawmaker recalled the bloc's previous policies toward Russia, as well as Ukraine, which often contradicted one another, urging the EU authorities to start shaping unified, coherent diplomacy.
Most traditional parties in the European parliament feel Russia has "humiliated" the EU on behalf of Borrell, and they want more sanctions on Russia. Up to now, these European sanctions are only on a list of Russian decision-makers, forbidden to travel to the West or hold accounts in the West, mostly for participating in the so-called annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014.
But between the positions of vocal Christian Democrats from Germany's ruling CDU/CSU alliance and the decision-makers in Berlin, there is a wide gap, that of realism.
"Borrell and the traditional parties confuse diplomacy and propaganda. Anti-Russian sentiment is regularly rekindled with boycott calls and demands for sanctions that only push European businesses down as Russia responds by in turn by implementing sanctions, in response to Europe. Our European fruit and dairy producers know something about it," Filip De Winter, a member of the Belgian parliament and former president of the populist Vlaams Blok party, told Sputnik.
Vaccine suppliers failed the European Union, causing disruptions to vaccination campaigns in many European cities, while Russia offered uninterrupted supplies of its vaccine with proven efficacy, the lawmaker pointed out.
"I thank Russia for its generous offer, as Ms. Merkel does too. Our politicians have - it seems - forgotten their criticisms of the Russian vaccine from last August. It is proven to perform very well, at over 90% protection, whereas the EU had presented it as unreliable. That should be called false European propaganda or EU fake news," De Winter said.
The lawmaker also pointed to Europe's ongoing need of Russian gas, saying that the bloc should "stop mixing politics and trade relations over Nord Stream 2."
"This situation between Russia and the EU will lead the EU to beef up its discourse and its resources," Pierre Vercauteren, a political scientist at the UCLouvain University in Belgium, told Sputnik.
While opining that Moscow "could and should" have shown greater flexibility in the crises that marred its relations with Brussels, the expert said that the European Union needs stronger diplomacy and having a "high representative" in charge for it is not enough.
"As for Josep Borrell, I believe that despite criticism of his actions, he reacted well. His long experience keeps him open to dialogue, that a neophyte would probably have abandoned," Vercauteren said.
