Discussion of HIIA researchers on the relationship of the EU and the Indo-Pacific region

On 30 May 2023 the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA) held a roundtable discussion titled „The EU and the Indo-Pacific region”. The participants of the discussion were Péter Goreczky, Gergely Salát, Viktor Eszterhai and Tibor Mezei, senior analysts and research fellows of HIIA.

At the beginning of the discussion, it was highlighted that the roots of the “Indo-Pacific” as a term in global politics go back to a regional concept declared by Japan in 2016. The United States adopted the phrase in order to contain China’s dominance in Asia, and Washington had the same motivation when formulating and publishing a strategy on the region. According to the panellists, the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy can be largely seen as an orientation towards the United States. Beyond economic cooperation the common interests of the European Union in the region are hard to define, therefore goals of the strategy are relatively vague and indefinite.

During the discussion, the experts also covered issues, such as the EU’s potential for a more active role in the region, the attitude of the region’s countries towards Europe, and the concept of the so-called „collective West”. At the end of the discussion, after answering several thought-provoking questions, our researchers also concluded that if the EU intended to contain China’s dominance in global infrastructure development, then it should have provided financial resources for the implementation of concrete projects. However, this has not happened yet.

Photos by: Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA)