The EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum took place on Friday in Brussels bringing together the EU and its Member States with countries from the East coast of Africa in the West to the Pacific islands in the East, in total around 70 delegations.
According to a spokesperson of the Commission, the ministerial forum serves as a platform for fostering dialogue and cooperation between Europe and the Indo-Pacific. It supports directly the objectives set forth in EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy while addressing shared challenges and opportunities in the vital region. The meeting was chaired by EU foreign policy chief, High Representative Josep Borrell.
The EU Strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific was adopted in September 2021 and is still relevant despite the new geopolitical challenges since then, such as the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza, the spokesperson told The Brussels Times.
“It continues to provide us with a solid basis for our cooperation in the seven priority areas: sustainable and inclusive prosperity; green transition; ocean governance; digital governance and partnerships; connectivity; security and defense; and human security.” As regards human rights issues, they are dealt with bilaterally between the EU and concerned countries.
Ahead of the ministerial meeting, The Brussels Times met the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, Ali Sabry, for an interview about the most pressing issues for his country after the deep political and economic crisis in 2022. He was appointed foreign minister in July 2022, after having served as justice minister and finance minister.
In 2022, Sri Lanka defaulted for the first time on its foreign debt, the economy contracted by 7.8 %, and income poverty was estimated to have doubled between 2020 and 2022 to around 25 % of the population. The foreign debt was $ 16 billion.
Agreement on debt reconstruction
Asked about the support from the EU to overcome the crisis, the foreign minister replied that the EU and a number of EU member states had provided aid to vulnerable groups in his country. The EU also supported Sri Lanka in the reconstruction of its foreign debt in the discussions in the so-called Paris Club, an informal group of creditors whose role is to find solutions for debtor countries.
”We agreed about the terms as regards the reconstruction of the debt with international financial institutions such as the IMF and with other countries on bilateral loans, including China, the biggest lender. Now we are in the process of discussing international sovereign bonds with private lenders.”
The renewed flow of tourists after the Covid-!9 crisis was also important, as tourism accounts for about 10 % of Sri Lanka’s GDP. Tourism is one of the three main source sources of foreign currency, besides export and remittance from Sri Lankans working abroad.
Sri Lanka managed to mitigate the worst effects of the economic crisis by debt reconstruction and domestic policy measures such as import restrictions and increases in taxes and interest rates to curb consumption. The all-time inflation rate of 67 % in 2022 has been brought down to 6 %. But deep structural reforms, also requested by IMF, are still needed for sustainable solutions.
“We have to do something about loss-making state-own enterprises – either they should be reconstructed or privatized,” foreign minister Sabry said. “We abolished the subsidies to them and at least they don’t run with a loss any longer.”
Subsidies for water, electricity and fuel are still in place but only for vulnerable families who account for ca 40 % of the total population of 22 million. They are also entitled to free education and health care, and receive cash allowances, a kind of minimum income. There is also a need for public administration reform, an area where the EU could provide advice.
Another area where reforms are overdue is the military. The defense budget as a percentage of GDP peaked to 6 % of GDP during the civil war. The war ended in 2009 and the budget since then has been reduced to ca 2 %. But almost all of it is spent on personnel and little on modern equipment. Sri Lanka plans to downsize the military by 2030.
Overlapping priorities
Sri Lanka’s political and economic priorities overlap to a large extent with the priorities in the EU strategy for cooperation with the Indo-Pacific countries but there are also differences as regards foreign affairs.
“Our number one priority is maritime security and fighting piracy, human and narcotics drug trafficking, and smuggling,” the minister underlined. “Sri Lanka is strategically located in the Indian Ocean and relies on free trade and the freedom of shipping routes. Supporting a rule-based world order is important for us.”
In the past, Sri Lanka participated in a mission against piracy in the Indian Ocean but seems now hesitant to joining any international coalitions to protect maritime freedom in the Red Sea and the shipping route via the Suez Cana to Europe despite the importance of maritime security.
“Everything is connected,” the foreign minister explained. “We don’t want to be seen as we are supporting any side in the current conflict in the region or being accused of double standards. We cannot be seen as being part of the Western alliance. That said we are of course against any disruption in mercantile shipping.”
This position resonates with Sri Lankas non-alignment principle. Sri Lanka stresses the principle of "friendship towards all, enmity towards none" in its diplomacy.
“As an island nation we support the blue economy, such as regulated fishing, clean oceans without plastic pollution, and the preserving of see weed and coral reefs,” he continues.
Connectivity is another important priority. “It’s about linking countries and nations in different ways, by physical infrastructure, such as harbors and airports, tourism, people to people contacts and trade relations.”
Does Sri Lanka see the Global Gateway, which is promoted by the EU, as an alternative or a complement to the Chinese-led Belt and Road Initiative? “Definitely as a complement,” he replied. “We don’t believe in decoupling with any country. The smart thing is not to put all your eggs in one basket. Promoting trade requires good infrastructure, and the more choices we have, the better, as it allows competition.”
The green transition is important for Sri Lanka. “We want to change our energy mix and increase the share of renewable energy to 70 % by 2030.
It is an ambitious goal, in line with the conclusions in COP28, the recent UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai. “We can do it as we already have plenty of hydropower and will expand with solar and wind energy,” he said. “In this way, we’ll reduce our dependency on import of fossil fuels.”
Disagreement on standards
The EU Indo-Pacific ministerial forum ended without any joint statement. As in the two previous meetings in Paris and Stockholm, the EU issued a press release, which also included an annex on relevant agreements and projects particularly covering developments since the Stockholm meeting. For some examples of joint projects, click on this fact-sheet on EU – Indo-Pacific relations.
“The Forum has now become a regular event in the international calendar,” the press release says.
“To face global challenges, the prosperity and security of the EU and Indo-Pacific countries are increasingly linked. They therefore have a shared interest to work together to enhance their economic, political, societal, climate and environmental resilience.”
The participants reaffirmed their determination:
- to uphold the rules based international order, the principles of the UN Charter, and international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and to support security and stability in a free and open Indo-Pacific;
- to work for inclusive and sustainable economic growth and human development;
- to fight, mitigate, and adapt to climate change, promote and accelerate the green energy transition, tackle biodiversity loss and strengthen ocean governance.
In his press remarks after the meeting, High Representative Josep Borrell, the chair of the meeting, described the Indo-Pacific region as a dynamic region which contributes with two thirds of global growth – but also for 60 % of GHG-emissions. The region is an important trade partner for the EU (40 % of EU’s imports and 25 % of its exports).
As regards geopolitical security challenges, the meeting disclosed differences between the two blocs. Foreign minister Sabry, who was asked by Borrell to report about the discussions on security, drew the attention to “alarming double standards” when it comes to responding to conflicts. “The same respect of standards should be given to all conflicts in order to achieve lasting peace.”
Despite differences between EU member states, the EU is united in calling for compliance with international humanitarian law and condemns both Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and Hamas’s terrorist attack against Israel. Borrell admitted that it is a permanent issue in every meeting with EU’s international partners that perceive the conflicts in a different manner.
His spokesperson, Peter Stano, explained that it does not imply that the High Representative shares their perceptions. It is part of his diplomatic engagement with them explaining the EU position. “The EU does not apply any double standards,” he underlined. “We support decisively international law everywhere in the world.”
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
