Good afternoon, everybody.
Thank you for being here in the EU delegation. We just met with the EU Foreign Ministers and a few of our partners.
Our priorities for this week are very clear: first, Russia’s war against Ukraine; second, Middle East. Third, global food security that is also connected to both crises in Ukraine and Middle East. Fourth, accountability because that is also related to all these wars; maritime security and [a] multilateral system that delivers.
Europe faces a fast proliferation of sabotage attacks and airspace violations. Moscow is trying to scare Europe into winding down its support for Ukraine. As Russia is willing to take greater risks, we also need to impose greater costs.
There are many ways to do that, to begin with: stronger action against Russia’s shadow fleet and tougher measures targeting its military-industrial complex.
Russia’s economy is one of its weakest parts, and we need to increase the pressure on it, so that they would stop this war.
Ministers today discussed the rollover of the EU’s Russia sanctions. Sanctions are a core pillar of our response to Russia’s war. This is our biggest sanctions regime of more than 3,000 listings, and discussions are ongoing. We aim to close them soon and hopefully have the rollover swiftly.
On the Middle East, we raised the worsening situation in the Red Sea, which is already affecting European interests. Houthi attacks also sabotaged the global economy.
EU Operation ASPIDES is making a crucial contribution to the security in the region, and global shipping, for that matter. But the Operation needs more naval assets and more air assets to address the increased level of threats in the region. The Black Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb are three critical maritime choke points whose disruption spread far behind the regions. Freedom of navigation and maritime security are essential for trade, food security, and our economies.
For the second part of our session, also ministers from Australia, India, Japan, and South Korea joined us. And these are the countries with which European Union has signed Security and Defence Partnerships.
I want to single out three areas of closer cooperation.
First, making the multilateral system more effective, which means that Europe is strongly committed to it, both politically and financially, as the largest contributor to a UN system. Yet too often, UN is paralysed when it comes to preventing or ending conflicts. The focus today was on how to make multilateralism more effective, including through stronger preventive diplomacy and mediation, UN reform is essential, and we need a UN that is more effective and capable of delivering. Of course, the next choice of UN Secretary General is crucial, and we need strong leadership to defend the UN Charter, but also drive reform. Beyond institutions we need closer international cooperation where the rules are under pressure, like at sea, or still taking shape, such as artificial intelligence.
Second, Ministers discussed the growing connection between the security in Europe and security in the Indo-Pacific. Russia and North Korea’s actions affect both regions. Tens of thousands of North Korean troops have supported Russia’s war in exchange for Moscow’s money, supplies, and technical assistance.
Through the supply of dual-use goods, China remains the key enabler of Russia’s war. What happens in Asia matters for Europe, and what happens in Europe matters for Asia. Free, open, and rules-based Indo-Pacific is essential for global stability and prosperity, and EU Member States and our partners support the international law, including UNCLOS, freedom of navigation and overflight, and peaceful settlement of disputes. Protection of the critical maritime infrastructure is also somewhere where we can work much closely together.
Third, we discussed with the Ministers also what we can do more effectively to respond to common risks affecting our economic security. We are all struggling with the same issues. Close cooperation between EU and Asia Pacific partners to diversify and reduce our dependencies is in our mutual interest, and we have plenty where we can cooperate on these subjects. But I stop here to take your questions.