The ongoing Russia Ukraine conflict has now entered into the third year. This conflict is at Europe’s doorsteps and therefore high on European security agenda. It is not surprising that the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell did not miss the opportunity to visit Kyiv for the fourth consecutive visit since the start of the war to convey EU’s “unwavering” military and financial support to the country. He assured that for 2024, “Member States are planning more than €20 billion in military assistance, both bilaterally, and through the European Union”.

EU engagement in the Indo Pacific region is equally important and a significant issue for the grouping. This was evident from the recently concluded EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum held in Brussels on 2 February 2024. It was the third iteration of the Forum (Paris- February 2022 and Stockholm-May 2023) and included about 70 participants from the EU’s institutions and Member States, 38 Indo-Pacific countries and three regional organisations from across the Indo-Pacific region from the East coast of Africa to the Pacific island states including the ASEAN.

The EU and its Member States are convinced that their “prosperity and security” is inextricably linked to the Indo Pacific and therefore they must work together closely with the regional countries to enhance “economic, political, societal, climate and environmental resilience”.

Although China and the US were not invited to the Forum, Josep Borrell did not hesitate to flag the “geopolitical turbulence and great power rivalry” in the Indo Pacific. He assured the participants of EU’s “strong and shared interest” in the region and commitment to “cooperate more closely to enhance their security, prosperity and resilience”.

The participants at the 2024 Forum reaffirmed their determination to “uphold the rules based international order, the principles of the UN Charter, and international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and to support security and stability in a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

South and East China Seas including Taiwan Strait, North Korea, and the Middle East have been identified as spaces that have a “direct impact on the prosperity of both Europe and the Indo-Pacific” which necessitates that the EU and the countries of the Indo-Pacific “work together to reinforce respect for international law and the rules-based international order, promote a free and open Indo-Pacific and address global challenges”.

Furthermore, the preservation of freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden is of key importance to the region and the world. Under Operation Aspides, Denmark, France, Germany and Italy are conducting operations to protect the commercial traffic in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden against attacks Houthis in Yemen. It complements the US led Operation Prosperity Guardian currently underway.

The EU has decided to hold “Dedicated Sectoral Dialogues” with Indo-Pacific partners to enable “intense” cooperation on “maritime security, cyber security, counter terrorism, space, crisis management and conflict prevention and in countering hybrid threats and foreign information manipulation and interference”. These are aimed to enable EU emerge as a “smart security enabler,” helping to build the capacities of its partners in the region. In this context, the EU is exploring “Team Europe approach actions” which should strengthen the safety and resilience of global port infrastructures in South and South East Asia.

The EU has an ongoing security and defence dialogue with Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and other nations and conducts / participates in bilateral and multilateral naval exercises. France and Germany participated in biannual multilateral exercises such as the US led Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).

EU also has plans to increase the number of military-naval exercises with Indo-Pacific partners. Several Member States have dispatched warships to the region in the past. Similar announcements by more members about future plans to dispatch warships in 2024 have been made. This is notwithstanding EU conceding that it is “still largely seen as an extra-regional actor” with “limited impact on the regional security dynamics of the Indo-Pacific”.

The European nations are now deploying high end warships including aircraft carriers. For instance Italy deployed a frigate in 2023 in the Indo Pacific region and is waiting for government approval to deploy Cavour Carrier Strike Group for six months beginning in June 2024.

This is in line with the European Carrier Group Interoperability Initiative Doctrine under which EU and or partner navies will build operational capacity for a Multination Carrier Strike Group focused on an aircraft carrier, with associated escort units (including submarines) and logistical support.

These EU led initiatives including by individual Member States have been welcomed by the regional countries who see such moves help the smaller countries to balance against China. The absence of the US and China in such Forums is also a welcome development and is being labelled as “smart diplomatic move” which precludes participating countries avoid “overbearing pressure: as well as not “being put into a corner and being asked to choose sides”.

Dr. Vijay Sakhuja is associated with Kalinga International Foundation, New Delhi, and is Emeritus Professor of Research, SoA Center for Integrated Maritime Studies and Research (SOACIMSR), Siksha 'O' Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.