Revising the structure of European security can be beneficial to all parties, but there is a need to update the agenda and increase the number of participants in the negotiations. The corresponding statement was made on Monday, January 17, by President of the European Parliament Josep Borrell.
“The revision of the European security architecture could be beneficial to everyone. If we are talking about this, if this is the goal of Russia, then it is necessary to change the agenda and increase the number of participants in the process of revising the security architecture,” he said.
In addition, he stressed that since the 1970s, “a lot has changed, including with regard to the security architecture of Europe – for example, the USSR no longer exists.”
According to Borrell, by the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union (EU), which will be held on January 24, the EU will prepare its proposals.
Earlier on Monday, French Ambassador to the Russian Federation Pierre Levy, as the country’s representative in the governing bodies of the European Union (EU), announced Europe’s readiness to discuss proposals on security guarantees with Russia.
On the same day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the level of activity of the alliance now exceeds in its power the activity of the organization at the time of the end of the Cold War. He clarified that such a concentration of troops in Europe was the bloc’s reaction to the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014.
According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, NATO has an idea of what kind of military-technical measures the Russian side can take if the alliance refuses Russian demands for security guarantees.
Negotiations on security guarantees took place earlier. They went through three stages. On January 10, a meeting of the Russian and US delegations took place in Geneva. On January 12, a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council was held in Brussels, and on January 13, consultations ended at the Vienna site of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia, the United States and NATO on security guarantees. It follows from the documents that the alliance must renounce any military activity on the territory of Ukraine and other states of Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Also, Russia and NATO must pledge not to create conditions that can be regarded as a threat by the other side.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
