The European Union has been working on plans for strengthening its ties with Brazil, Chile, Nigeria, and Kazakhstan, countries that are amicable with Russia, Politico reports.
According to the media outlet, the EU’s goals are to isolate Russia, arm Ukraine, and contain China.
“We find ourselves in a competitive geopolitical environment: not only a battle of narratives but also a battle of offers. We need to improve our offer and enhance our relationship with them,” the briefing obtained by Politico states.
Foreign ministers of the EU countries will discuss the initiative at the 24 April summit.
According to one high-ranking EU official, as per Politico, this is “a huge reorientation <…> of the way we do foreign policy — not of our foreign policy, of course, but the way we do it.”
The document states that each of the four countries represents a potential EU toehold in the regions where the union has to compete with Russia and China for influence and resources. Brazil and Chile have raw materials, Nigeria is the economic centre of West Africa, and Kazakhstan possesses oil and gas in Central Asia.
According to the document, the EU is majorly interested in Kazakhstan due to the necessity of not letting Russia bypass international sanctions through the country. It is claimed that Kazakhstan itself would like to be a closer partner of the union.
The document states, in particular, that Kazakhstan is working on obtaining visa-free travel for its citizens. The facilitation of legal entry to the EU is also one of the main points in the section about Nigeria. It is indicated in the document that currently Nigeria sees the union as “a closed space with strict visa policies” lacking “openness on legal migration”.
