EU High Representative admits bloc’s “mild” reaction to 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia

Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on Thursday said the bloc had shown a “mild” reaction to the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008.

We reacted mildly when [President Vladimir Putin] invaded Georgia in 2008 and half-hearted when we saw him annexing Crimea in 2014”, Borrell said at an EU defence discussion at the ongoing NATO Summit in Washington.

“We did not want to see what was obvious. That Putin wants Russia to dominate its neighbourhood again. Putin has not given up on Russia’s imperialist ambitions”, the official noted.

He also said Russia was “still behaving as an empire” and Putin wanted to rebuild either “the Tsar[ist] empire or the Soviet empire” with his policy.