Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy, answers questions from “We Europeans”

The war in Ukraine has confronted the European Union with unprecedented political situations. Josep Borrell, Vice-President of the European Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, discusses the decisions that the Union had to take, choices unprecedented in its history.

For the head of European diplomacy, the EU was wrong about Vladimir Putin. “The Americans were telling us ‘Be careful, you are weaving a dangerous energy dependency, he is not someone reliable’ […] 40% of our gas came from Russian pipes. To trust, for such a critical element as energy, a provider who has proven not to be so reliable, who has used energy as a weapon, of course, was a big mistake. An error that was corrected very quickly.”

“Arming a country at war is something the European Union has never done”

But the European reaction was up to the task, even historic. “We all had the feeling that history was turning a page. We reacted, not only very quickly, but by going much further than we could have imagined, says the diplomat. Arming a country at war is something the European Union has never done. There were even people who said it was not possible.”

Ukraine’s accession to the European Union will be accelerated, but for the diplomat, it is still difficult to quantify the procedure time: “There is the will to go quickly, but we don’t know how the war will evolve. It’s hard enough to make the necessary reforms to become a member state if you are at peace, imagine yourself in the middle of a destructive war! However, I can assure that Ukraine will build its future in Europe and we must welcome it.”

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