Former EU foreign policy chief Borrell rejects claims rules-based order has 'expired'

GENEVA

Former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pushed back Wednesday against suggestions that the international rules-based order is becoming obsolete, stressing that international law remains binding under EU treaties.

"International Law, which includes the prohibition to use force to settle international disputes, is an integral, binding part of the EU Treaties," he wrote on US social media company X.

"Its ‘expiration’ cannot be decreed by anyone in a speech,” he stressed.

Borrell urged each EU institution to work "in accordance to its respective competence."

His comments came after remarks by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said Monday that Europe can no longer act as a "custodian for the old world order."

Speaking at the annual conference of EU ambassadors in Brussels, von der Leyen warned that the traditional world order is rapidly eroding amid repeated violations of international law.

"We will always defend and uphold the rules-based system that we helped to build with our allies," she said, however, adding that Europe could "no longer rely on it" as the only means of protecting its interests amid the "complex threats" that it faces.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also warned that Russia's invasion of Ukraine had accelerated the "erosion of international law."

The debate comes as US and Israeli strikes on Iran intensify tensions.