Borrell considers China’s controversy with the Baltic countries settled after clarifying that Beijing respects their independence

BRUSSELS, 24 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, has settled China’s controversy with the Baltic countries after clarifying that Beijing “respects” the independence of the countries that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In a press conference from Luxembourg, the head of Foreign Affairs of the EU has described as “good news” that the authorities of the Asian giant have “distanced” from the controversial statements of the Chinese ambassador in Paris, Lu Shaye, who stated on Saturday that post-Soviet countries do not have “effective status” under International Law.

“I hoped that it was not the official position of China and it is not. This is good news,” he assured when asked by journalists and concluding the controversy generated in recent days and for which the Baltic countries have summoned the Chinese diplomatic representatives. “The explanations we have received from the Foreign Ministry are enough for us,” she said.

“Everyone can have a wrong expression and I am not going to go into that matter. I wanted to know his official position, it was clarified and it was not to question, as expected, the sovereignty of the former Soviet republics,” he assured, to to show that the incident has been clarified and has served to know first-hand the position of Beijing.

The head of community diplomacy has also indicated that at the next meeting of ministers of the branch, which will take place in Stockholm at the beginning of May, he will present an analysis of relations with China in order to “recalibrate” the link.

As he has advanced, the document “will not turn everything upside down”, but the current situation with a growing rivalry forces the EU to relocate with respect to Beijing. “With the current (trade) figures, the attitude of the United States, we have to recalibrate our approach taking into account the perspective of Ursula Von der Leyen but also of heads of state and government and foreign ministers,” she argued. .

In this way, Borrell has indicated that the EU will not banish the thesis that Beijing is a rival, competitor and partner, but that it is a question of seeing which of these vertices weighs more in relations with China. “You have to continue working on that triptych and see where the center of this triangle is,” he reflected.