European defense ministers are meeting in Brest on Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 January for an informal meeting – the first under French presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU). One issue will occupy a central place on the agenda: the Ukrainian crisis, while Moscow threatens to invade its neighbor.
→ DEBATE. Is Europe doomed to be a simple observer of its security?
But for the Europeans, it is difficult to stand up to Russia, which maintains an offensive posture vis-à-vis Kiev and only wants to deal with the United States.
In search of a new architecture
“Whatever the solution, it must go through Europe”, hammered Friday, January 7, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, passing through Paris. A French government source also called for “To ensure that Europeans are fully involved in their security”, and no “Mere spectators of the dialogue between the United States and Russia”.
But in Brussels, Monday, January 10, all eyes were indeed on Geneva, where talks were being held between Moscow and Washington. Belgian liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt lamented on Twitter “The return of the cold war” and called for a “European strategy in the face of the threat that Putin poses to the peace of our continent”. In Geneva, Russia insisted on obtaining guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia would not join NATO, while, according to Washington, no country can be prevented from doing so.
→ ANALYSIS. In Geneva, Americans and Russians take stock of European security
In this tense context, the European ministers meeting in Brest might endeavor to redefine their “Vision of a European security architecture”, in the words of President Emmanuel Macron on January 7, when the EU wishes to agree, by the end of March, on the definition of its “Strategic compass” in security and defense. It is even one of France’s priorities for these six months.
The rule of unanimity, that Achilles heel
“Originally, the Ukrainian crisis was triggered by Putin in 2014 precisely because Ukraine was getting closer to the EU. But since then, the EU has not demonstrated its ability to react in the short term. In particular, it lacks centralized decision-making ”, believes Sven Biscop, expert on European foreign policy at the Egmont Institute and professor at the University of Ghent. The latter does not see in Europe “A real community, but a host of states which must vote unanimously on questions of common foreign and security policy”. The coalition contract across the Rhine also pleads for an end to this rule.
However, the EU has a few arrows to shoot. In a forum, the former diplomat Michel Duclos and the specialist in Asia François Godement recall that Europeans are not without assets: “With Moscow, sanctions and trade relations are in the hands of the EU more than in those of the United States”, they write in The world. In a resolution of December 2021, the European Parliament thus refers to possible sanctions which should “Target the Russian officer corps and general officers involved in planning for a possible invasion (of Ukraine)”.
.
