“No one believes that Ukraine will recover Crimea”, according to José Manuel Barroso

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According to José Manuel Barroso, the European Union has lost all hope that Ukraine will one day manage to recover Crimea.

The former European Commission president, in office during Russia’s illegal annexation of the peninsula in 2014, recalls that European Union leaders hoped they could form a united front against President Vladimir Putin’s expansionism.

“We had in mind, or European governments had in mind, that Crimea was a special case. That’s why today, honestly, no one believes that Ukraine is going to get Crimea back. is reality”José Manuel Barroso Barroso told Euronews during an exclusive interview on the show “Europe Conversation”.

The former head of the Commission acknowledged that his comments were “delicates” as they put him directly at odds with Ukraine’s long-standing position, which strongly advocates for the full recovery of all territories occupied by Russia from the 1991 borders.

“We will force Russia to face reality, namely international law, the power of global solidarity and the need to restore complete justice for Ukraine, and ultimately lasting peace for our entire country”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in September, during a speech at the Crimea Platform, an annual summit dedicated to the recovery of the Black Sea peninsula.

In a statement to Euronews, a spokesperson for the European Commission, currently led by Ursula von der Leyen, said that “Crimea is Ukraine.”

“This is a consistent position that EU Member States have adopted in all relevant European Council conclusions since 2014”added this spokesperson.

Throughout the interview, José Manuel Barroso stressed that he had no “no doubt” on the European Union’s duty to support Ukraine against Russia’s full-scale invasion that began in February 2022, saying the war had turned into “global conflict” due to the participation of North Korean troops and that it represented a “existential challenge” for the whole world.

“Whatever happens to our American friends, we should support Ukraine,” he said, referring to the election of Donald Trump, which has fueled fears that Washington could soon cut off aid and leave Europe to support Ukraine alone.

“What is at stake in Ukraine is a fundamental question for the whole world. The so-called countries of the South are watching”he continued.

An extremely difficult situation

José Manuel Barroso. Barroso recalled the diplomatic row to define a common EU response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

At the time, he said, there were three options on the table: declare war on Russia, impose sanctions or settle for a statement of condemnation.

With the “strong support” from Germany, France and the United Kingdom, which was then a member state, the bloc opted for the second option – sanctions – but opposition quickly arose to water down the plans, José Manuel said Barroso.

“The first opposition was that of Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister. The latter declared: “I do not agree with the sanctions because there will be counter-sanctions, it will be negative for us. But if there is a consensus, I will not oppose them”he recalled.

The Netherlands has adopted a position “fairly insular”while Malta, Cyprus, Greece and Slovakia demonstrated a “certain level of ambiguity”he explained.

To complicate matters, member states could not agree on the type of sanctions they wanted to apply. “That’s why, in the end, the sanctions package was relatively minimalist compared to what happened afterwards”said José Manuel Barroso.

The sanctions included an arms embargo, a ban on the import of products made in Crimea, a ban on the export of sensitive technology and restrictions on Russian state-owned banks. Dozens of separatists from eastern Ukraine have been blacklisted.

In the aftermath of the massive invasion, the 2014 sanctions came under intense scrutiny due to their limited scope and failure to reduce Moscow’s military power.

“Governments were not prepared to go further. This is the reality. The Commission (was) prepared to go further, but governments were not prepared to go further because of their own interests.”to admit José Manuel Barroso. “It was an extremely difficult situation.”

Putin doesn’t want Ukraine to exist

During his ten years in office, José Manuel Barroso. met Vladimir Putin 25 times, giving him privileged access to the Russian leader’s obscure thoughts.

According to José Manuel Barroso, Russian President “doesn’t want Ukraine to exist”. Rather, he envisages a “Vassal state” like Belarus, without an independent foreign and defense policy.

“Vladimir Putin does not want to come and say to the Russian people: ‘OK, we have gained a little more territory, a little Donbas, a little Crimea.’ Putin’s objective was to prevent Ukraine from becoming a country. I know it because I talked about it with him.”a said Mr Barroso, referring to his private conversations with the Russian leader.

“He said to me: ‘Why are you defending Ukraine? You know very well that Ukraine is an artificial country created by the CIA and the European Commission. I told him: “Look, if it was the European Commission that created Ukraine, I should know about it.”

It is up to the EU to decide whether Putin should be allowed to realize his neo-imperialist vision or whether his impulses should be contained, Barroso said.

We are going to support Ukraine so that it can be a country where we are going to say: “OK, Mr. Putin, you are stronger, we are weak, you can take Ukraine. It’s not that important for us.” That is the question”he continued.

Asked about his support for Ukraine’s European aspirations, José Manuel Barroso said the Union had never admitted a country that was still at war, making it impossible for Brussels to commit to a date when kyiv could be ready to join the Union.

Waiting for, “we must do everything to help Ukraine become a member”.