"Our division has cost us dearly in the Arab world but also in a great number of countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. The difference in our responses to wars in Ukraine and Palestine has been used extensively by Russian propaganda. And this propaganda was quite successful [...]," he wrote.
According to him, in the case of Ukraine, the EU acted "decisively" because the EU countries "were united." At the same time, in the conflict in Gaza, where tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, have died, the EU was unable to stop the fighting, cope with the humanitarian catastrophe, and facilitate the release of hostages, despite close relations with Israel and funding the Palestinians.
Speaking of Ukraine, Borrell admitted that since the start of the conflict in the Eastern European nation, European militaries have purchased 78% of new equipment from outside the EU, and despite "progress" made in recent months, the union still faces "difficulties in sending enough ammunition to support Ukraine". In addition, the EU faces "significant qualitative challenges in new military technologies like drones or artificial intelligence."
Borrell also argued that the “Russian propaganda,” combating which he has made one of his priorities as head of European diplomacy, was successful due to the existing dissatisfaction of the “rest of the world” with the actions of Brussels. In particular, in the "non-Western" world, he said, there were concerns about the uneven distribution of vaccines during the coronavirus crisis, harsh immigration policies, insufficient efforts to combat climate change or injustice in international organizations.
Furthermore, Borrell, who is leaving his post in the offing, expressed the belief that in the future the EU must do everything to prevent the consolidation of a “the rest against the West” alliance. To do this, according to Borrell, Europeans should adhere to their principles "everywhere" and "not just in words."
However, it was not only the policies of the EU itself that alienated the bloc from "the rest of the world", but also some of Borrell’s own statements. For example, speaking about the supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza last November, he said that there was no point in providing assistance to "someone who will be killed the next day."
Moreover, one can recall a controversial statement by the head of European diplomacy, where he compared the EU to a "garden" and the rest of the world to a "jungle" that could "invade the garden."