Europe between two wars : EU foreign policy in 2023

2023 was mainly dominated by the two wars raging in the EU's neighbourhood. Ukraine managed to liberate half of the territory occupied by Russia in 2022 and unblock the Black Sea. However, Russia continued to attack and destroy the country. Ukraine must prevail because the core principles of the United Nations Charter and EU's very security are at stake. That is why the EU stepped up its support. On 7 October, the terrorist attack by Hamas has triggered a new war in Gaza, with serious risks of spill over in the region. The EU has called on and acted for putting an end to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, free the hostages and implement rapidly the two-state solution, the only way to bring a just and lasting peace to the region. Many other topics were also on EU's agenda in 2023: the EU-China relations, the coups in the Sahel, the EU-Latin America summit, European defence, multilateralism... This book brings together blog posts, op-eds and speeches by HR/VP Josep Borrell Fontelles, addressing the most pressing issues for EU's foreign and security policy during the year 2023.