EU head of diplomacy Josep Borrell said today that “the world as a whole” will not overcome the pandemic until 2023, although Europe is already “emerging from the tunnel.”
According to Borrell, Europe is “coming out of the tunnel,” but the situation in South America, Africa and India remains difficult.
“The world as a whole will not be able to defeat the virus until 2023. We have a long struggle against the pandemic, ”he said, according to Croatian public television HRT, at the XIV Forum in Dubrovnik on the impact of the pandemic on geostrategic relations and in the global economy.
Borrell addressed the foreign ministers of ten Central European and Balkan countries – Albania, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Greece, Latvia, North Macedonia, Malta and Montenegro – and other diplomats.
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs believes that the covid-19 pandemic will leave a different world, more digital and with new inequalities.
“We are all aware of the future implications as well as the solution to the pandemic crisis of vaccination,” he said.
Borrell defended the transfer of vaccines to poor countries to accelerate economic development blocked by the pandemic, recalling UN warnings that drug shortages in some regions would mean differences in recovery and increased global instability.
In this regard, he mentioned European donations to the global COVAX engine, a vaccination platform promoted by the World Health Organization.
Borrell accused Russia and China of promoting “vaccine diplomacy” to protect their interests in the world and warned that the EU should “know about it and act accordingly.”
He pointed out that, above all, China’s influence in the world is growing and that cooperation with Beijing “is becoming more difficult,” although he defended understanding because of the importance of this Asian country.
“Up to 25% of the growth of the world economy this year comes from China,” he warned.
Borrell believed that competition between China and the United States would shape the world for decades to come, and that the EU should lead its way “by looking through its own lens.”
“We have a common history, political and economic system with the United States. We will always be close to Washington, but we must look at the world with our interests in mind, “Borrell said, adding that the EU’s dialogue with President Joe Biden’s government in China is” positive and constructive. ”
