This annual book gives an opportunity to step back and establish what has been achieved, as well as to reflect about what lies ahead in EU foreign and security policy. It is also a means of presenting this policy and the global context to European citizens as well as to our external partners.

The road travelled since 24 February 2022

Naturally, this year’s book focuses principally on the road we have travelled since 24 February 2022, the day that Russia attacked Ukraine. The EU’s response since has been impressive. We acted with determination and unity to help Ukraine defend itself and to impose a high price on Russia. Such a blatant violation of the basic principles of the UN Charter, international law and the Helsinki Charter by a member of the UN Security Council demanded indeed such a strong reaction to demonstrate that we do not accept that “might makes right” and that unjust wars are doomed to be lost. The courage and determination of Ukrainians continues to impress the world and we will continue our support against the destruction and ongoing attacks by the Russian forces.

Since February last year, the EU has launched 10 rounds of sanctions targeting Russia; we mobilised more than 50 billion euros to support Ukraine in 2022 alone; we have jointly financed for the first time the delivery of military equipment to a country at war, and we offered to train 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers under the European flag. We also made an exceptional effort to get rid of almost all of our dependence on Russian fossil fuels. With the Solidarity Lanes that we put in place between Ukraine and the EU and the support given to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, we have also acted to limit the negative effects of Russia’s war of aggression on global food prices and food availability. We will continue these efforts until the restoration of full Ukrainian sovereignty and a return to international law.

The birth of geopolitical Europe

I said last year that Vladimir Putin had given birth to the geopolitical Europe that many had been advocating for a long time. However, we still have a long way to go in many areas to become a truly global actor. Even if we have made progress in 2022, there is still much work to be done to build our common foreign, security and defence policy.

Looking back, this book also reminds us that the war of aggression against Ukraine is unfortunately far from the only crisis affecting the world. Terrorism and instability are spreading in the Sahel, there has been a terrible war waging in Ethiopia, the situation in Somalia remains highly unstable, tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have continued to rise, the situation in the Western Balkans remains complex - to name only a few examples that are highlighted in this book. Tensions and conflicts are putting peoples’ lives at risk around the globe, we continue to face an unprecedented climate crisis and the global order is being challenged in many ways.

Many of our partners are often more concerned with other crises

It is important to keep in mind that, while we are directly threatened by the war of aggression against Ukraine, many of our partners in what some call the "Global South" are often more concerned with these other crises. Geopolitical shifts are increasingly creating a disordered multipolarity with a deficit of multilateralism, at a time when we would need most this multilateral action. Also to counter the criticism of “double standards” that we often face, the EU has to remain fully engaged in working with its partners on all global issues, in particular climate change and the tensions it generates over water and food resources or the challenges of poverty. This book deals with many of these issues because the future of Europe and the world depends on such an engagement.