The southern flank

Undoubtedly, the greatest challenge facing Europeans at the moment is to confront Russia's invasion of Ukraine and put an end to Vladimir Putin's possible expansionist temptations. But we need to be acutely aware of what the Russian president's grip on the West represents. In the north in Ukraine, in the south in the Middle East and in the centre in the Sahel, in that strip of countries from Mauritania to Somalia, from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea.

In the new Commission, the new High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is Kaja Kallas, a former Prime Minister of Estonia who is considered a fierce anti-Putin campaigner from her Baltic country bordering Russia. And the novelty is the creation of a Defence Commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, another former prime minister, in this case from Lithuania, another Baltic country.

If there are some countries that are more threatened than others by the possibility of a Russian invasion, it is the Baltic states, where the Kremlin's interests are more than evident. That is why European forces, including Spanish forces, are deployed in an operation to protect these EU and NATO countries.

It is not a question of prejudging behaviour or attitudes when they are new in office; it is simply more than necessary to draw attention to the serious threat looming on the southern flank so that it is considered in its correct dimensions.

The Chadian government's decision to break off military cooperation with France, which it has been developing for several decades, is a further warning of the loss of position in a strategic part of Africa. The security and stability of North Africa is the security and stability of Europe and the world in general.

The Chadian government, like those of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, now hovers in Russia's orbit, and its break with France means a worrying move away from Europe.

The action of terrorist groups in the region, mafias of all stripes in the trafficking of human beings, arms, drugs, animals and anything else that is profitable is part of the justification for the new leaders of these countries to resort to the mercenaries of the Russian Wagner group.

Moscow's objective, for many years now, has been to obtain an exit to the Atlantic at a strategic point such as the Sahara or Mauritania. This is clearly unacceptable, especially now. Algeria and Iran are part of this equation that must be controlled by the Western allies, who have a key ally in the region in Morocco, but must pay much more attention to the southern flank.