Europe feels pressure from the developing world for an equal partnership

The EU's foreign affairs chief said at the bloc's first security and defence forum that he understood sharp criticism from Global South countries that they were not being treated as equal parties.

Those countries expressed frustration with Europe's disregard for their security fears, while expecting support for the West’s military backing of Ukraine against Russia.

Such criticism made the EU realise that it had not fully understood the “dramatic intensity” of other conflicts in the world “because it did not affect us directly”, said the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell, head of the EU’s external action service that organised the so-called Schuman conference.

“We Europeans must be much more on listening mode to be receptive and improve co-operation in addressing common security challenges,” Mr Borrell said.

At the same time, Europe’s strong support for Ukraine is clearly linked to the proximity of the conflict.

“We are human beings. We feel much more strongly what happens close to us,” said Mr Borrell.

The war in Ukraine has revealed stark divergences between the West and other leading world powers.

A recent survey conducted by a Berlin-based think tank has found that people in China, India and Turkey want the war to end as fast as possible though Europeans and Americans are more likely to support Ukraine until it regains its full territorial sovereignty.

This difference of opinion has come as a surprise for the West, which expected the rest of the world to rally to its view, according to a poll by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Speaking at a panel on multilateralism, Nato deputy secretary general Mircea Geoana said that the defence minister of a “leading African country”, which he did not name, had asked him why the West had not supported countries that were the victims of aggression in the same way as it has helped Ukraine.

“It’s justified criticism,” Mr Geoana said. He stressed that the outcome of the war will have “immense consequences on the way forward”.

Many participants said that international organisations set up after of the Second World War had to be revisited.

Foreign Affairs Minister of Senegal Aissata Tall Sall said that the African continent, with its 1.3 billion citizens, needs to be represented at the G20 and the UN Security Council to secure equal partnerships.

She also called for action — not just reassuring words from the West about being heard. “What we are saying is very important but after saying it, let’s do it,” Ms Tall Sall said.

Her concerns were echoed by assistant secretary general of the League of Arab States Hossam Zaki.

“We are in 2023. We cannot continue to be governed by the fact that world nations that were at war 90 years ago are still shaping the world order,” Mr Zaki said.

“I think it is better to be looking for a multipolar world because of previous experiences when the unipolar world was the order. I think many have suffered.”

In a speech, Mr Borrell said he had heard the call for action and that some countries such as Niger and Somalia had asked the EU to send them ammunitions, as it has recently done for Ukraine.

“We are working to start delivering such equipment to our African partners in the coming months,” said Mr Zaki.

Mr Borrell also asked for more international support in the EU's military missions, drawing on the example of Chile sending soldiers to the Balkans. Morocco and Jordan have negotiated the legal framework to do the same.

Some of the forum's participants directly accused Europe of only defending its own interests.

“What I hear from yesterday and today is what Europe wants from us, but I don’t hear how we can reach that partnership,” said Ebtesam El Kitbi, head of the Emirates policy centre.

“We are plagued with many wars in our region, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, many of them, [but] when we need Europe to look at them, you are only looking at them from your own interest,” she said.

Answering Ms El Kitbi, Mr Geoana said that defending one's interests was to be expected.

“I think it’s only normal for nations across the world to benefit from this moment of disruption in the global balance of power, and regional players or continental players are trying to get a better seat at the table,” he added. “That’s normal. That’s legitimate.”

Mr Geoana called on countries to find common ground to establish partnerships, as the EU and Nato have previously done on space, climate change, new technologies and security.

He concluded by extending an open hand to Africa, which Russia has also been courting in the past years.

“The geography of my partnerships at Nato is only North Africa and the Gulf. I would love to have new partners to sub-Saharan Africa,” said Mr Geoana. “I am extending an invitation for you, if you think we can give help.”