To defend the very existence of the democratic EU and the basic principles of the international order, we cannot afford to let Putin win in Ukraine.
EU High Representative Josep Borrell wrote about this in his blog on the website of the European External Action Service. He expressed his opinions following the results of the seminar “Quo vadis Europa?”, recently held at the Spanish International University Menendez Pelayo.
“It was clear to all participants that the hostility of Putin’s regime toward the EU and our democratic values was the result of a longstanding dynamic based on authoritarianism, a desire for revenge and an imperialistic worldview. To defend the very existence of the democratic EU and the basic principles of the international order, we cannot afford to let him win in Ukraine. However, it was also clear, that at this stage, due in particular to its tight control over information, Putin has still a quite large support inside Russian society, although the solidity of this support should not be overestimated.”
Every year since 2001, Josep Borrel has been organising a summer course named “Quo vadis Europa ?”at Menendez Pelayo International University in Santander in Spain. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its many consequences formed of course the focus of this seminar this year. Throughout the week, they discussed how the EU could, in this difficult context, enhance its effectiveness and make a reality of its aims to be a geopolitical player.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU has shown solidarity with Ukraine and continues to provide it with significant political, economic, financial, military and humanitarian assistance.
For the first time in its history, the EU has allocated money under the so-called European Peace Fund to purchase lethal equipment for a country where active hostilities continue. To this end, the EU has already allocated five tranches of assistance totaling 2.5 billion euros to ensure Ukraine’s right to self-defense in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter.
