“Many common interests and a shared culture in fact link the EU and Russia. That is why the EU strategy aims at engaging Russia in some specific issues,” the EU had been planning to say in its ‘Strategic Compass’, according to a previous draft dated 9 November.

But the latest version of the text, dated 6 January and seen by EUobserver, cut out the warm words.

“The European Union remains committed to a united, long-term, and strategic European approach [toward Russia],” it said instead.

The Strategic Compass, when it is finally agreed in March, will underpin EU thinking on defence for the next decade, French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian noted on Friday (14 January) after having discussed it with his EU peers in Brest, France.

“Russia wants to go back in time to when the EU didn’t exist and Europe was subject to the spheres of influence of great powers,” EU top diplomat Josep Borrell also said.

They spoke after relations with Moscow nosedived during the past two months over Russia’s military build up around Ukraine and its increasingly aggressive rhetoric.

And they both warned of “massive” EU and US sanctions against Russia if it invaded its neighbour once again.

Borrell also pointed the finger at Russia over a cyber-attack on Ukrainian government websites the same day.

There was no hard “evidence” of Russia’s culpability, Borrell said.

“But I can imagine with a certain probability … where it [the cyber-attack] came from,” he added.

In a further nod to Russia’s malign activities, the new draft of the Strategic Compass also spoke of a “deconstruction of the security architecture in Europe inherited from the Cold War, from the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe, to the Open Skies Treaty, and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty”.

It voiced fresh concern on Russia-type “hybrid tactics such as cyber-attacks and disinformation, direct interference in our elections and political processes, economic coercion and the instrumentalisation of irregular migration flows”.

It also added that countries such as Georgia and Ukraine faced “hostile interference by Russia and the extensive use of hybrid tactics, [which] compromise their stability and their democratic processes and have direct implications for our own security”.

And it alluded to Russia’s increasingly aggressive behaviour in Africa, such as deployments of Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic and Mali.

“We are witnessing a growing presence of our strategic competitors from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa,” the new draft added.

In the meantime, Le Drian also noted that he and German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock will visit Ukraine’s front line in the near future.

But Baerbock will first go to Kyiv and Moscow on her own on Monday and Tuesday.

“Personally, it is very important to me that we intensively use the different channels of conversation,” she said in Brest.

The centerpiece of the Strategic Compass – to create a new EU rapid-reaction military force – remained unchanged.

But the latest draft also contained new warnings on China.

“Russia and China are expanding their nuclear arsenal and developing new weapon systems,” it added.

“China has been substantially developing its military means and aims to have the technologically most advanced armed forces by 2049, impacting regional and global security,” it also added.

Jihadism
It contained several extra paragraphs on counterterrorism – a special priority of the French EU presidency.

Threats included “a combination of home grown terrorists, foreign fighter returnees, attacks directed, encouraged or inspired from abroad, as well as the propagation of ideologies and beliefs that lead to radicalisation and violent extremism”, it added, for instance.

But it mentioned only jihadist groups in this context, even though far-right groups carried out more attacks than Islamist ones in Europe in recent times.

In other changes, the new draft accelerated a deadline for a new EU Single Intelligence Analysis Capacity from 2025 to 2023.

It spoke of Europe’s need to invest in “quantum computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Big Data”.

It mentioned as a “core interest” the need to “support Bosnia and Herzegovina as a single, united and sovereign country”, amid a mounting threat of secession by its Serb entity.

Iran was “likely to remain an important source of regional instability through its direct and indirect support to political and military proxies and through the proliferation and dissemination of weapons, including transfer of missiles”, it added

And the EU should “increase … investment in peace and stability of the Middle East and the Gulf”, it also added.

Source: https://euobserver.com/world/154094

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EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier today stepped up warnings across Europe that there will be new barriers with the UK even if an 11th-hour trade deal is struck.

Ahead of travelling to London to try to break the deadlock in negotiations, he tweeted guidance from the European Union that “changes are inevitable” and businesses, citizens and public bodies should prepare for them.

Mr Barnier was due to hold emergency talks today with UK chief Brexit negotiator David Frost amid a stand-off over state aid rules and fishing rights.

In a tweet directed at Croatia, he highlighted the guidance which states: “Even if the EU and the UK enter into a very ambitious partnership by the end of 2020 covering all areas agreed in the Political Declaration, the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, internal market and customs union at the end of the transition period will inevitably create barriers to trade and cross-border exchanges that do not exist today.

“Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, from 1 January 2021, far-reaching consequences for public administrations, businesses and citizens will be visible.”

The warnings follow similar Twitter messages directed at other EU nations and come amid concerns that Britain could end up having left the European bloc with no deal at the end of the year.

Both sides are accusing the other of blocking progress in the talks.

A UK government spokesperson said: “It is the EU’s refusal to agree with us arrangements they have agreed with other major trading partners that is the cause of the difficulties, and will remain so until the EU accepts that the UK’s future subsidy arrangements are a matter for the British people and Parliament, not the EU.”

However, French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian blamed the UK’s “intransigent and unrealistic attitude”.

John Dickie, director of strategy for business group London First, said it was now “crucial that both sides work hard to agree a deal as quickly as possible. Businesses need time to prepare for the new arrangements, and their bandwidth has been squeezed by the pandemic.”

Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/new-barriers-for-europe-and-uk-even-with-a-deal-a4537246.html

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BRUSSELS — The EU reiterated its support for the nuclear deal brokered with Iran, also expressing concerns Friday that the escalating tensions in the region could lead to a resurgence of the Islamic State’s activities.

The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell called the urgent meeting of European foreign affairs ministers in Brussels after the U.S. killing of Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone attack in Iraq on Jan. 3.

Tehran responded earlier this week with missile strikes at U.S. bases and announced it would no longer respect limits set under the 2015 nuclear deal on how many centrifuges it can use to enrich uranium, fuelling fears Iran could quickly start building a nuclear arsenal.

“We need to understand that the fight against Daesh is not over,” said NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, who attended the meeting in the EU capital and referred to an alternative name for the Islamic State group.

“We have made enormous progress but Daesh can return.”

In an attempt to avoid an escalation between Iran and the United States, EU leaders have intensified diplomatic activities, trying to keep alive the nuclear deal while making sure the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition continues to operate in Iraq. In the wake of the killing of Soleimani, Iraq’s parliament called for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the country.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas reiterated Germany’s position that the fight against IS in Iraq needs to continue.

“I can’t rule out that, if the anti-IS coalition leaves Iraq then IS will regenerate so much that it can carry out attacks in Europe again,” said Maas, speaking to German broadcaster n-tv.

And Denmark’s foreign affairs minister, Jeppe Kofod, said IS is the threat for Europe.”

Despite calls from U.S. President Donald Trump to break away from the nuclear deal, the European Union remains committed to the treaty.

“Thanks to this deal Iran is not a nuclear power,” Borrell said.

Iran struck the deal in 2015 with the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, and China. It has, however, been damaged by Trump’s decision to unilaterally abandon it in 2018 and to impose sanctions that have hurt Iran’s economy.

Iran has gradually rolled back its commitment to the accord and the recent escalation of tensions between Iran and the U.S. has dealt further blows to the pact.

“We are of the opinion that this agreement makes sense because it holds Iran to not developing nuclear weapons, and so we want this agreement to have a future,” Maas said upon arrival at the meeting. “But of course it only has a future if it is complied with, and we expect that from Iran.”

Despite its decision to get rid of restrictions in relation to its enrichment capacity, Iran has not stopped collaborating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and has made clear it is ready to return to its commitments if sanctions are lifted.

Delivering the meeting’s conclusions, Borrell urged Iran to get back “to full compliance without delay” to make sure the deal can be salvaged.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian continued to insist the accord “is not dead” and said Iran could get access to atomic weapons within “one or two years” if the deal continues to lose its substance.

In a phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also reaffirmed his support for the deal.

Borrell has invited Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to Brussels for talks, but a date for his visit has yet to be set.

In front of Ghassam Salamé, the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, the Council also addressed the current crisis in the war-torn country, with Borrell warning of an increased risk of terror activities if a cease-fire is not quickly reached.

Libya is currently governed by dueling authorities, in the east and the west, each relying on different militias. The east-based government is backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia. The western, Tripoli-based government receives aid from Turkey, Qatar, and Italy.

Borrell said the presence of fighters coming from Syria and Sudan has been detected in Libya recently and insisted the conflict could lead to a new influx of refugees in Europe.

“This crisis may spiral out of control,” Borrell said.

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Frank Jordans and Geir Moulson in Berlin, Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this story.

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-foreign-ministers-gather-brussels-salvage-iran-deal-68191220

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Earlier this month, for the first time since the signing of the nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, has blamed the EU for “appeasing” the US [Francois Lenoir/Reuters]

Following the unexpected sacking of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini must be more concerned than ever before about the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the “Iran nuclear deal“.

Today, the EU is faced with having to make a choice between preserving the Iran deal that it regards as a major diplomatic achievement and breaking away with its most important political ally, the United States of America.

Since the deal was signed in 2015, the EU has been bearing the responsibility of protecting an increasingly fragile balance: safeguarding Iran’s commitment to the nuclear agreement while simultaneously trying to dissuade the US from using a language of containment and sanctions. This task became even harder when the Trump administration started pressuring European leaders into signing a “supplemental agreement” with Iran that would also regulate the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile programme and its role in Syria.

Trump’s decision to sack Tillerson, who was often depicted as a calming influence in the administration, and to put forward former CIA director Mike Pompeo, who has a history of ruthless partisanship and opposition to the Iran deal, as candidate for US secretary of state only added to these pressures.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Massoumeh Torfeh

Dr Massoumeh Torfeh is a Research Associate at London School of Economics (LSE), specialising in Iran and Afghanistan.

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Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/eu-save-iran-nuclear-deal-180318120229738.html

[Disclaimer]

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