Speech by HRVP Josep Borrell at the 29th ASEAN Regional Forum – highlights
ASEAN is one of the most important organisations to help preserve peace and security and the EU wants to be a partner in this endeavour. Both ASEAN and the European Union were founded to prevent conflict by bringing economies together and ensuring stability.
On 5 August, EU HRVP Josep Borrell participated in the 29th ASEAN Regional Forum in Cambodia, where he expressed the European Union’s perspective on four key challenges which threaten peace and stability in the Europe and Asia.
In Europe, Russian military invasion of its smaller neighbour Ukraine. Grabbing its land and resources and the targeted killing of civilians are grave violations of the United Nations Charter and of international humanitarian law. This unjustified invasion, condemned by 141 members of the UN, is a conflict between an aggressor state that takes advantage of its military strength and a sovereign and independent country of which Russia has recognised the integrity of its borders by signing the Budapest Memorandum of 1994. Not only on Ukrainians safety, this war has a clear impact on food security worldwide. While the purchase, the transport, the payment and the import of Russian agricultural products are specifically exempted from EU sanctions on Russia, Russia has been blocking one of the main bread baskets of the world from exporting its grain until some days ago. More than 20 million tons of grain have been prevented to leave the ports of Ukraine.
In Asia, an increased militarisation and destabilising actions in the South China Sea threatens freedom of navigation and overflight and can affect international peace and security. As China which fires ballistic missiles overflying Taiwan and several of them land in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, the EU calls on all parties to remain calm, to exercise restraint, to act with transparency and to maintain open lines of communication to prevent any miscalculations that could lead to tragic consequences. Disputes must be resolved through peaceful means and comply with the UN Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The EU is also concerned with executions of four pro-democracy activists in Myanmar and DPRK’s repeated launch of ballistic missiles. The EU will continue committed to help preserving peace and security in the region, and calling all countries to observe UN Security Council Resolutions and relevant conventions.
Read the full speech here: https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/29th-asean-regional-forum-speech-high-representativevice-president-josep-borrell_en?s=168