Ministers, Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to express my sincere thanks for the kind invitation extended to the
European Union to participate, for the first time as Dialogue Partner, in this important
ministerial meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).

For the European Union, the Indo-Pacific region, and more specifically the Indian
Ocean, is not a distant horizon but a vital space where our economic, environmental,
and security interests converge.

The interdependence between the EU and the Indo-Pacific is evident in the ships
that navigate daily between our ports, the data flowing through undersea cables, and
the digital transactions that interlink our economies.

This growing interdependence is unfolding alongside increasing strategic competition,
and it also exposes shared vulnerabilities. Disruptions to supply chains can trigger
ripple effects across the globe and the surge of hybrid threats have highlighted the
need for cooperation and collective response.

Let me also underline that the ramifications of Russia’s war of aggression against
Ukraine have significant geopolitical, economic, and humanitarian consequences,
experienced on a global scale.

The European Union’s Indo-Pacific Strategy of 2021 marked a significant pivot in our
external action, recognising the EU’s interests in the stability, security, and prosperity
of the maritime commons. Strengthening international ocean governance is also one
of the priority areas of this Strategy, as well as the forthcoming European Ocean Pact
– the EU’s strategy for a coordinated response to all aspects concerning the ocean.
This strategic engagement is driven by an explicit commitment to a rules-based
international order, sustainable development, and inclusive multilateralism.

The EU is committed to an open and safe Indian Ocean. In this context, the EU has
deployed two military operations designed to contribute to the maritime security in the
Western Indian Ocean and in the Red Sea.

We are also committed to diplomacy. Since the adoption of the EU Indo-Pacific
Strategy in 2021, three EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forums have been held and
HRVP Kallas is planning to organise a Fourth EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in
Brussels in autumn this year. Bringing together Foreign Ministers from over 70
partners from Europe and the Indo-Pacific, these annual Ministerial Meetings have
emerged as a unique platform for cooperation between the EU and Indo-Pacific
partners.
 

Let me close with a simple message: today, as we gather under the shadow of shifting
power dynamics and shared challenges, our partnership with IORA represents a
significant reaffirmation of cooperative internationalism. The convergence between
the EU and IORA is grounded in shared interests and complementary capabilities.
This relationship can also serve as a model of inter-regional cooperation. 

Thank you.