"Blooming garden," jungles, and the new format of the "tourist's breakfast" Europe’s evolving crisis strategy

On March 26, Brussels updated the guidelines for each EU member state to compile a list of "emergency survival kit" items for the population, intended to last for three days. This became one of the key components of the Preparedness Union Strategy (PUS) developed by the European Commission, which outlines the EU's approach to crisis readiness. The proposed kit is to include not only food, water (for three days), and medicines but also copies of important identity documents. Simultaneously, the PUS strategy, which includes a 30-point action plan, emphasizes the importance of strengthening "civil-military cooperation" and highlights objectives aimed at protecting against various types of emergencies—from natural disasters and industrial accidents to cyberattacks and military conflicts (preparation of warm clothing, batteries, household items, etc.).

According to the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, the residents of the European Union must think more broadly in light of the numerous threats that are becoming more widespread. Furthermore, EU member states are instructed to increase reserves of necessary technical resources, including critically important raw materials for maintaining industrial production of strategic and energy equipment.

Probably, everything here is already clear—what has effectively replaced the "tourist's breakfast" on the European agenda is preparation for the sudden onset of military actions. Although this nuance is not directly advertised, only the lazy wouldn't understand what has prompted the emergence of new trends in EU policy.

In the context of the current situation, it is worth recalling what was said in 2022 by the former High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, during his speech at the opening of the European Diplomatic Academy. He referred to Europe as a "garden," where not only "everything works," but it also represents the best (simultaneous) "combination of political freedom, economic prosperity and social cohesion that the humankind has been able to build." As for the "rest of the world," Borrell believed that the "most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden." Therefore, the "gardeners have to go to the jungle. Europeans have to be much more engaged with the rest of the world. Otherwise, the rest of the world will invade us, by different ways and means."

Following this statement, Borrell, calling EU citizens privileged people who built this very triad combination, emphasized the impossibility of pretending that they survive as an exception, as this context should serve as a way to support others who are facing significant challenges of the time. He then described the planet's experience as a moment of creation of a new world, since the war in Ukraine is changing the EU, creating a different European Union. Borrell expressed disagreement with the narrative that this war means the end of EU foreign policy due to Brussels blindly following the U.S. In his belief, this war has become an opportunity for the EU to be more assertive, insisting on creating a European position—not just from a foreign policy perspective, but also from a military and defense point of view.

In this context, he once again recalled the great difference between Europe and the rest of the world, primarily manifested in the presence of strong institutions in the EU. For example, an independent judiciary or elections that ensure citizens' freedom. Moreover, Borrell even pointed out the presence of red traffic lights regulating movement and people who take out the trash. But, as the speaker put it, he cannot go to developing countries and build institutions for them, as they must build them themselves; otherwise, it would be a form of neo-colonialism. What he did highlight, however, is that any institution without people who make it work is just an empty building. Only a combination of institutional structures and people who are dedicated and capable of making them work can function. In this regard, future diplomats should take care of the garden, becoming "good gardeners."

Perhaps the reader can easily grasp the reason why we found it important to address Borrell's remarks from three years ago so meticulously. Given the new calls from the European Union discussed earlier, it is quite evident how Borrell and others, who were among the leading European politicians shaping the EU agenda through the lens of global geopolitics, presented wishful thinking as reality.

It is elementary—what elections ensuring freedom for Europeans was Borrell referring to? We have repeatedly pointed out the fact that in many European countries, voters chose right-wing parties in national elections. However, regardless of how one views the policy platforms of the right-wing parties, it cannot be denied that they are unable to form a government, despite securing the top spots in the elections. And isn't this the same issue with the European Union's rejection of last year's election results in Georgia, which were transparent and without objections from observers? Or the situation surrounding the results of the presidential elections in Romania?

And how should we interpret Borrell's statement about the "brilliant" European institutions at the center of the European "garden”, which must be protected and nurtured, in light of the ongoing corruption scandals shaking these very institutions? After all, it was precisely in the year of his remarks to future European diplomats that a massive corruption scandal erupted around the figure of Eva Kaili, the Vice-President of the European Parliament.

It would be one thing if that case were an isolated incident. But just a couple of weeks ago, the world was introduced to a new corruption scandal, unfolding with regard to the same elected officials. This time, we're talking about a police operation carried out on March 13 in Belgium against "influential figures in the parliamentary body," who were allegedly promoting the interests of China's Huawei within European circles in exchange for various benefits. As reported by the media, after several months of covert investigation, federal police conducted 21 searches in search of evidence and documents related to the corruption case in the European Parliament. Specifically, it was noted that the investigation involves "money laundering and the use of forged documents." Or let’s also consider the recent reports about an administrative investigation into possible misconduct by the Bulgarian European Prosecutor in the context of the ongoing investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

Overall, with each of the points quoted from Borrell's speech, one can notice, to put it mildly, discrepancies with historical reality. However, we do not aim to focus on these contradictions; rather, we propose looking at the broader picture of what is happening in Europe today from the perspective of how and who shaped the European agenda in recent years. It is this very agenda that led to the creation of the Preparedness Union Strategy, as we pointed out earlier.

And finally, one more point. In the conclusion of his speech to future European diplomats, Borrell, loudly condemning any potential manifestations of neo-colonialism in the modern era, singled out as one of the diplomats' duties taking care not of the garden itself (Europe, that is), but of the jungles outside. The question arises: could this call for the actual revival of the same colonialism in a new guise?

But well, as they say, "to each their own." What is more significant is that the shaping of European political and philosophical thought over the past decade by EU leaders, in the style of Borrell, is precisely what has led the once powerful continent to its current state.