Another "luck" of the old man Borrel

Following the expulsion of the French ambassador, the authorities in Niger declared the EU ambassador persona non grata. It wasn't enough for Paris to remove itself from the situation—now Josep Borrell has also been left in an uncomfortable position. The rapid loss of influence and connections in Africa by European countries and the European Union as a whole is, without exaggeration, one of their greatest failures in decades.

Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, seems to be preparing the most challenging circumstances for his successor. Before leaving, he appears to be setting up time bombs, forcing the new head of the European External Action Service to deal with the fallout.

Interestingly, Mr. Borrell seems indifferent to the consequences. He appears to care little about Africa or its geopolitical issues. His focus seems to be on securing a well-paid pension, which, by the way, will likely be supplemented by dividends from his friends among the Catalan separatists, whom he has secretly supported throughout his career.

It is ironic that Borrell’s failure may further complicate the situation for other former colonizers like him. But what about uranium for European nuclear power plants? With relations deteriorating with Niger, the pool of suppliers for nuclear fuel for European countries has significantly shrunk. More and more reliance will likely be placed on the only remaining viable fuel delivery route to Europe—through Central Asia and Azerbaijan.

For this, however, Europe will need to carefully assess the geopolitical map and reassess its strategies. The question is: will they be able to do so?