“Putin is sacrificing his people and his army for his personal and political survival,” he emphasized, referring to a conflict that was supposed to be “a blitzkrieg,” but which after 18 months “failed when the Ukraine was invaded” and “the …” systematic destruction of this country”.
This was highlighted in an interview with El País collected by EFE, in which he outlined the current situation of conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, the coup in Niger, the rise of China or the national political situation.
For the former Spanish Foreign Minister: “The war pushed Ukraine definitely the side Putin didn’t want to be on‘, since, in his opinion, ‘wars speed up history’, and without them, Ukraine’s candidacy for the European Union would have ‘taken years’.
On the other hand, it put the role of on the table Chinaa country he considers “a real geopolitical player, while Russia is like a gas station whose owner has a nuclear bomb.”
And although “China is too important to ignore, but also to try to isolate it,” for Borrell it is necessary a dialogue which “enables collaboration in solving common problems” and do not contribute “to a polarization of the international system that leads to a bipolar world”.
military coup in Niger
During the interview, Borrell also commented on other current international issues as head of EU diplomacy, such as Niger’s military coupfor which “we need African solutions to African problems“.
In this sense, he stressed that “asymmetric and irregular wars in the Sahel cannot be won if the struggle for development is not won” and ignored the possibility that the military coup is the result of a Russian conspiracy, although e.g Borrell, the country is “taking advantage of the situation.”
Spain and Catalonia
Borrell pointed out the national situation together I find it paradoxical that Spain’s ability to govern depends on someone who “he doesn’t give a shit” and who instead “just takes care of the solution, of course in his own way Conflict between Spain and Catalonia“.
Referring also to the investiture negotiations between the PSOE and the nationalists, he stressed that parliamentary democracy “requires pacts” and that this is the case these pacts “require concessions and commitments.”
In this sense, Borrell appreciated Pedro Sánchez’s role in “very difficult” situations from which he benefited good results like that for the vice president is the “inflammation” of the Catalan conflict.
“Let us remember that in 2017 there was a real threat of state fragmentation. And compare it to the current situation where the PSC was banned yesterday and today outnumbers the three pro-independence parties combined,” Borrell stressed.