“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

The post No love for Russia in latest EU strategy first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

At our EU Defence Ministers meeting earlier this week, we have set out an ambitious agenda to strengthen our ability to act autonomously as a Union whenever necessary and, at the same time, make the EU a better global partner and security provider.

In order to raise our Common Security and Defence Policy to the necessary level, we intend to improve our capabilities, develop our potential for common operations, enhance our partnerships and adapt our structures to new threats and a modified environment.

We are now beginning to work on a future Strategic Compass. What we need primarily in Europe is a common strategic culture: a common way of looking at the world, of defining threats and challenges as the basis for addressing them together. The Strategic Compass should help us get there. To kick off this process, I will present an intelligence-led threat analysis to Member States before the end of 2020.

Also by the end of the year, we have to reach an agreement on the 2021-2025 priorities for one of the core instruments of our security and defense policy, the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). At the same time, we need to spell out the conditions for third states’ participation in PESCO projects, which would allow us to act on a larger scale if necessary.

Equally urgent is the need to strengthen our tools to counter hybrid threats, including disinformation and cyber-attacks. The outbreak of Covid-19 has been a stark reminder of how critical the subject has become to protect our societies.

We must also develop the European defense industrial and technological base and reduce our critical dependencies from external suppliers. This week’s announcement on the first projects selected for funding under the European Defence Industrial Development Programme, demonstrates the potential in that area.

Yet if we want to be credible, our objectives need to be backed by adequate budgetary means. Hence the importance to reflect our security and defense priorities in the negotiations of the next EU budget for 2021-2017: all our ambitions in the area of operations, capabilities, and resilience ultimately depend on the availability of financial resources. We also need to strengthen our capacity of action outside Europe: the new EUR 8 billion European Peace Facility will enhance the credibility of our efforts to collectively promote peace and security beyond our borders.

Member States have a key role to play in this budgetary challenge. At a time of increased global uncertainty, they need to maintain their levels of defense spending and avoid cuts at the expense of our collective security. Above all, Member States need to spend together, through common procurement and on commonly agreed capability shortfalls.

Our global partnerships remain a cornerstone of European security and defense. Working closely with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, we made pragmatic proposals to strengthen further our cooperation in areas such as military mobility and exercises. By reinforcing our capabilities in security and defense, Europe is strengthening the transatlantic alliance. We also intend to develop further our partnership with the United Nations, a concrete demonstration of EU’s commitment to a rules-based international order.

It is by advancing together on these different tracks that we will be able to gradually build and implement a credible and effective EU security and defense agenda. We will go decisively ahead on this front with the support of all EU Member States.

Source: https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/81247/europe-security-and-defence-way-forward_en

The post Europe security and defence: the way forward first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.