Borrell: Let's take out the Patriots and provides them to Ukraine. Today Kiev and Sahel on the desk | EUROtoday

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Capri, Naples – The EU should “take the Patriots missiles out of the warehouses” and ship them to Ukraine, “where the war is intensifying, and I am sure we will do it quickly”. The EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, responded thus to those that requested him how – and when – Brussels might intensify its assist to Kiev.

Borrell is collaborating within the assembly of G7 overseas ministers on 17-19 April in Capri, with an agenda that features the Middle East, Ukraine and relations with sub-Saharan Africa amongst its priorities. April 17 noticed the primary discussions on the escalation between Israel and Iran, with the announcement of an settlement on the “retaliatory measures” that the Group will request in opposition to people concerned in supplying warfare to Iran. On April 18, consideration will shift to help for Ukraine's air protection and political relations with the African Union, an more and more stringent dialogue on the Sahel entrance and the repercussions of its instability on Europe.

Borrell: Europe brings out its Patriots

The first problem on the desk is the strengthening of help for Ukraine's air protection, some extent additionally insisted upon by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. Borrell, talking to reporters on the sidelines of the occasion, clarified that the EU can not «depend solely on the USA, we should take our duty. We have the Patriots, we’ve the anti-missile programs, we’ve to take them out of the warehouses and ship them to Ukraine.”

Borrell's thrust on Ukraine is balanced by the prudence shown on Middle Eastern escalation, in line with the position taken by the Group and already highlighted by the Foreign Minister and host of the ministerial Antonio Tajani. Borrell reiterated the urgency of avoiding a land attack on Rafah, now recalled by Israel among the retaliatory measures against Iran. “If there have been an assault in Rafah, the place there are 1.7 million folks on the streets, there could be an actual humanitarian disaster,” he told journalists. So the appeal to Israel was very clear from President Biden himself and from all European leaders, not to attack Rafah.”

Relations with Africa and the instability of the Sahel

The different sizzling level on the agenda is sub-Saharan Africa, beginning with the turmoil shaking the Sahel area. A gathering is scheduled for April 18 with the delegates of the African Union, represented in Capri by the Foreign Minister of Mauritania Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug (not like what transpired on the eve, the president Mohamed Ould Ghazouani is absent).