Josep Borrel, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, spoke to The Jakarta Post about strengthening multilateralism and address the strategic aspects of global recovery efforts.
Foreign ministers of the world’s 20 biggest economies are descending on Bali from July 7 to 8 to attend a the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM), themed “Building a more peaceful, stable and prosperous world together”, and comes amid a global food crisis fueled by climate shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. One of the confirmed participants to the FMM, Josep Borrel, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, spoke to The Jakarta Post’s A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil about strengthening multilateralism and address the strategic aspects of global recovery efforts. Following is an excerpt from the interview.
Question: How does the EU relate to the Indonesian G20’s three priority issues, global health architecture, sustainable energy transition and digital transformation?
Answer: Indonesia’s G20 priority issues coincide with the EU’s own priorities. and we can only address these issues together. The G20 constitutes, in that sense, a crucial platform. It is [common sense], indeed, but we need a global response to global problems.
Unfortunately, the multilateral system today is under pressure like never before, it is put to a severe test, and we are seeing an aggravation of the “deficit in multilateralism”. We see more distrust, more nationalism and more free riding than the world can afford.
In our globalized world, we all suffer from the non-provision of public goods, and the majority of problems that our societies face can only be solved on a global scale, by working together.
I hope our meeting here can contribute to overcome national considerations and ideologies, even though the context and recent developments are not good at all.
How do you view Indonesia’s G20 presidency so far, with the war in Ukraine continuing and Jakarta working hard to get G20 leaders to commit to the agenda?
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