Carnegie Europe
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The coronavirus pandemic has strained the EU’s efforts to promote democracy. Nowhere is this clearer than in the Western Balkans, where China and Russia have used vaccine diplomacy to strengthen their roles in the region.
To reap the benefits of being valuable partners in promoting democracy abroad, the Visegrad Four countries must address democratic backsliding at home, improve coordination among themselves, and make bigger financial commitments.
Branding Europe as a unique civilization undermines the EU’s attractiveness to the rest of the world. Europe is better served by reckoning with its colonial history and underlining the universality of human rights.
EU-UK cooperation on foreign policy will be hampered by the emotional and political fallout from a difficult divorce and boosted by a renewed transatlantic relationship. In the longer term, external challenges and the internal policy trends will determine the scope for working together.
While strategic autonomy seems firmly set to guide EU foreign policy, it carries significant risks—especially for democratic values. If it takes autonomy too far, the EU may find itself less able to advance, and achieve, its foreign policy goals.
In spite of the return of power politics, the hope for a rules-based international order is not dead. Relaunching multilateralism together with like-minded partners around the world should therefore remain at the center of Europe’s foreign policy.
Climate assemblies can help unlock more effective action against climate change, but improvements are needed in how they are run.
The coronavirus has accelerated a negative trend toward a more polarized and fragmented world. While movement restrictions have momentarily diminished effective diplomacy, the pandemic could help shape a more agile diplomatic craft.
The European Parliament should be an important source of democratic oversight and accountability as the EU continues to pursue greater security and defense integration.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, European security and defense cooperation reached a new level of ambition. With dark clouds building on many fronts, the EU must safeguard strategic autonomy and ensure democratic quality in defense integration.