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JOSEP BORRELL FONTELLES

IT IS almost six weeks since the invasion of Ukraine. We now contemplate the images of refugees, now more than four million, and indiscriminate attacks against civilian targets. Putin's blitzkrieg has turned into carnage. Russian troops, unable to take cities, are destroying them, as they are doing with Mariupol, the European Aleppo.
Ukraine, Putin tells us, has no right to exist as an independent nation. But this brutal invasion does not affect only Ukrainians. Nor is it only Europeans because we are closer. It affects the entire international community, which at the UN has twice condemned, by a very large majority, the Russian aggression and is calling for a halt in the war.
In my speech before the European Parliament, one day before the first vote at the United Nations, I recalled that when a powerful aggressor attacks without justification a much weaker neighbour who aspires to live in freedom, "no one could look the other way." And Latin America and the Caribbean did not look the other way. They responded like no other region in the world. Only four countries abstained and no one voted against. Yes, Latin America and the Caribbean were on our side. But "our side" is not the "European side."
This is not another distant-sounding war between Europeans. The Latin American and Caribbean region was on the side of international law, of the United Nations Charter, of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and in short, of the values that unite us in peaceful and respectful coexistence.
Ukraine has the right to determine its own future, to secure its own internationally recognised borders and to trade and deal with whomever it wants. It is the same sovereignty that the countries of the Americas and the Caribbean treasure with such aplomb.
Ukraine is far away, but the implications for all of us, on both sides of the Atlantic, are the same and equally profound. That is why we have not needed to ask for whom the bell tolls; we know it tolls for us too, and that is why we help Ukraine and sanction Russia. And Putin's imperial and belligerent outbursts, pretending to justify his invasion to "denazify" Ukraine, have not fooled a region where, since 1969, the Treaty of Tlatelolco has outlawed nuclear weapons.
This unjustified war has brought Europeans to agree on the need for a geopolitical Europe. Suddenly, our strategic compass, anchored in a past that had inoculated us against war, has been recalibrated to cope more and better with our responsibilities. This awakening will help us better locate and appreciate our partners and allies. In a world pivoting towards the Pacific, this conflict reminds us of the centrality of the Atlantic, North and South, and its strategic importance for Europeans, Latin Americans and Caribbean people.
Although Ukraine is now the focus of our efforts, it is time for Europe to project with greater force, conviction and pragmatism its commitment to the world and especially to our partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. We do not want to return either to the Cold War or to bloc politics.
Latin America promotes a pluralistic vision of the international community based on rules, dialogue, co-operation and the peaceful resolution of disputes. In addition, negotiation and dialogue are at the heart of the European Union. We are not a military union. We are not at war with anyone, but we must mobilise all our economic and diplomatic resources to safeguard Europe's security and find a solution to stop this human tragedy.
On the other hand, Putin's invasion has shaken the global economy, reducing the supply and raising the prices of food, fuel and fertilisers, and increasing the cost of living. We are facing a new emerging crisis and the EU will work to mitigate its effects and avoid, after a devastating pandemic, worsening social unrest. We are receiving millions of refugees in our countries, but we will not forget others, nearby such as those from Syria, and more distant such as the six million Venezuelans generously welcomed in the countries of the region.
Our new compass must strengthen our relations with Latin America and the Caribbean through a positive agenda that puts the citizen at the centre of major technological and environmental transformations, social cohesion, green and sustainable development, citizen security, democratic and institutional strengthening.
Latin America and the Caribbean have a young population, new political leadership, natural resources and great potential for regional integration. Our relationship is based on very solid foundations. The EU is the leading direct investor in the region, with 55 per cent of FDI in 2019, and the third largest trading partner. And it differs from other partners in its commitment to sustainability and more advanced social and labour standards.
We want to strengthen ties, not dependencies, in a pragmatic long-term bet, with a qualitative leap and proceed with the new generation of agreements with Chile, Mexico, Mercosur and the Caribbean, in whose materialisation I remain committed. We need to increase trade and investment, but we must also promote common positions at the multilateral level. Together we are one-third of the United Nations.
Yes, Ukraine is closer to European cities than to Latin American ones. But in this world where distance is of relative value, except for shelter from bombs, what happens in Ukraine will define the world we are all going to live in.

Josep Borrell Fontelles is the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission
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