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EU has no choice but to accept a more powerful ASEAN
President Jokowi wants the European nations to let the Southeast Asian nations develop their economies in their own way.
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Regroup: European Union and ASEAN leaders pose for a family photo at a commemorative summit in Brussels on Dec. 14, 2022. (Reuters/Johanna Geron)
J
ust one month after chairing the internationally applauded Group of 20 Summit, bringing together the leaders of the world’s largest 20 economies in Bali, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo played a leadership role for the 10-member ASEAN during the summit to commemorate 45 years of its relationship with the 28-member European Union in Brussels on Wednesday.
Indonesia will formally chair ASEAN next year.
An ordinary Indonesian friend deciphered the President’s message as follows: We thank the Europeans for being very helpful to us when we were still poor, although some of them behaved with a colonial-master mentality. You taught us so many things, built so many infrastructures and helped our economy grow. But now we are developed enough. We want strictly equal relations. And as we have paid all our debts and obligations, please stop dictating on how to live!
Given the dispute with the EU over Indonesia’s two most-important commodities -- nickel and palm oil -- clear in his mind, the President said the European nations should let the Southeast Asian nations develop their economies. Jokowi grew in confidence to say so because now ASEAN’s trade bloc with Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and South Korea has emerged as the world’s largest free-trade agreement.
“Partnerships must be based on equality. There must be no coercion. There can no longer be one side that always dictates to the other and assumes that ‘my standard is better than yours’,” Jokowi said.
The EU is now desperately watching the prolonged war in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February. It can only condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin but is too afraid to confront Russia militarily. Unsurprisingly, during the summit, the EU tried in vain to persuade ASEAN leaders to issue a stronger statement condemning Putin.
The invasion does not only violate the United Nations Charter but has also triggered a global crisis of energy and food. For the EU, the war inflicts nagging pains as it depends on gas and coal imports from Russia. But it does not mean that ASEAN should also support its way of dealing with Russia.
