With the new selection for the EU high representative for foreign affairs and vice-president for the commission, concerns throughout the EU institutions had started spreading after the nomination of Josep Borrell who historically has not been seen as the best option for the assigned responsibilities.
Even though Borrell has been previously elected for multiple important positions such as the president of the EU Parliament, the Spanish nominee has taken a number of actions that create tensions in the EU which itself looks contrary to the values of the union. After being inspected by the Parliament’s committee for legal affairs, it turned out that Borrell’s financial declaration has to be justified as the candidate has approximately €2.77m in assets and shares in several companies which put a question on the diplomat’s ability to represent both the common and national interests. This may create conflicts between countries and therefore it might be the case that Josep Borrell is not favored by the EU institutions.
Controversy
Even though the future High Representatives shows a strong will to strengthen Europe, it should be bared in mind that Borrell has made some negative speech about the US and Russia which is controversial to the idea of diplomacy. One example is the explicit sympathy towards Iran. In his sympathy, Borrell opposed Donald Trump’s rejection of the nuclear deal in 2015 (Nicolas, EU observer). In his view, the Spanish nominee also stresses on the importance of the Middle East region which is one of goals of diplomacy – to create peace and order. However, this further showed his bad relationship with the US President.
In addition his commentary on Russia had raised tension as he referred to it as an “old enemy that… once again shows itself” (Nicolas |Borrell: from controversy to EU’s top diplomat. This event made the Russian foreign minister invite the Spanish ambassador to Moscow as this speech has not been accepted very well by the Soviet country. This is why it referred to the commentary as damaging the partnership and mutually-beneficial relationships between the two country and thus this event also becomes contrary to the role of diplomacy worldwide (World News, Reuters).
In addition, Borrell was one of the people in favor of the EU-Turkey agreement which was a surprise as the position of the PSOE (of which he was a head) was against this agreement calling it “illegal” (Desalambre, El diario). This further gives floor for debates and disagreements.
Another point to be taken in consideration is that Josep Borrell has an anti-separatist position (Nicholas, EU observer). This is evident from the fact that the nominee has expressed his negative opinion for the separation of Catalonia. At the same time Borrell believes that the issue between Kosovo and Serbia should be resolved. However, it becomes questionable how he plans to address the problem and if he would recognize Kosovo. If we take into consideration his position on the Catalonia case, we can expect that he would not support the division of Serbia and Kosovo which would be contrary to the objectives of diplomacy.
Historical scandals
It should not be undermined that previously Josep Borrell had been involved in a number of political scandals. He has a long history of fines and resigning that raise concerns about corruption. After being involved in a fraud scandal, Borrell canceled his candidacy for the position of a prime minister. In addition to this, as a foreign minister, Borrell was accused of Security Market Law violation concerning trade of privileged information as third party. The event had significant consequences on his other activities. He had to resign from his position as the president of the EUI and because of suspicions of bribery and administrative circumvents (Nicolas, EU observer).
In conclusion, it is expected that Borrell would be harder than Francesca Mogherini on communist regime areas like Cuba (Nicolas, EU observer). The European Parliament expressed its criticism of the candidacy as it is concerned that selecting him for the position of HR/VP might question the EU reputation and credibility. Despite the view of some parties, such as the GUE/NGL, that his personal opinion would not influence his actions as a High Representative, it is inevitable that it has impact on the relationships with member states and third countries. Some of the actions he has already taken prove he has created pressure between countries and thus it is highly debatable if Josep Borrell is the best candidate for High Representative.
Primary source:
European Parliament. “Hearing with High Representative/Vice President – designate Josep Borrell”. European Parliament. 07 Oct 2019 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190926IPR62260/hearing-with-high-representative-vice-president-designate-josep-borrell Accessed 31 Oct 2019
References:
Nicolas, Elena Sanchez. “Borrell: from controversy to EU’s top diplomatic”. EUobserver. Brussels. 30 Sep 2019. https://euobserver.com/political/146106?fbclid=IwAR3An-0CyiKX6ZIqazwe_tyhDERwsNpugXMQXqP_Lkxnels7L5_Td_c9AIk Accessed 31 Oct 2019
World News. “Russia summons Spanish ambassador over “old enemy” comment”. Reuters. 28 May 2019. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-spain-diplomacy/russia-summons-spanish-ambassador-over-old-enemy-comment-idUSKCN1SY1W6 Accessed 01 Nov 2019
“Borrell says the EU-Turkey refugee agreement “was a solution to stop a haemorrhage of immigrants””. Eldiarios.es, 23 May 2019. https://www.eldiario.es/desalambre/Borrell-UE-Turquia-refugiados-inmigrantes_0_902210010.html Accessed 02 Nov 2019