​The European Union is trying to avoid dependence on China, as it was on Russian gas, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said on Saturday, calling for strengthening commercial relations with Latin America, writes AFP.

“We found that dependencies that were components of peace are also weapons that can be turned against us,” Josep Borrell said, stressing Europe’s “excessive dependence on Russian gas.”

This was highlighted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow restricted gas supplies to Europe and forced the continent to find other supply routes.

In his opinion, this dependence “has made (Vladimir) Putin believe that he can invade Ukraine with impunity, because Europe, which is a prisoner of our gas consumption up to 40% from Russia, will not react.”

“We want to avoid our relationship with China making us dependent as we were on Russia,” he stressed in his speech at the Ibero-American Summit in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The EU’s foreign policy chief has predicted that 2023 will be a “crucial” year for deals elsewhere, particularly in Latin America, given the summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in mid-July.

“Europe and Latin America have the opportunity to demonstrate that their commercial relations are always a source of progress,” continued Josep Borrell, adding that European investment in Latin America is greater than in Russia, China, India and Japan “combined.”

According to a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, 36% of the $142 billion in foreign investment in the region in 2021 came from Europe. (Agerpres)