By Tass

Copyright tass

SOCHI, September 29. /TASS/. The existence of the European Union (EU) may be in question after the end of the Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Gong Jiong, Vice President for Research and Strategic Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, said at the 22nd annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

“The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has a huge impact on peace and order. Russia will likely emerge from this war as a respected pole, while the very existence of the European Union may be in doubt. Not to mention the EU’s status as a pole not only by the international community, but even by its own Atlantic partners,” he said during the session What is Multipolarity? Symphony, Anarchy, Balance, or Continuous Conflict? According to the expert, if we look at the progress of the conflict, it will be clear that Russia is “certainly gaining the upper hand, advancing several square kilometers every day.” However, the West refuses to acknowledge this, the expert noted.

Jiong acknowledged that the current “system of global governance is disintegrating, the equilibrium is collapsing, and before anything new emerges, there will be chaos.”

“A new equilibrium in the system of global governance exists and must emerge,” he concluded.

About the meeting

The 22nd annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, titled The Polycentric World: Instructions for Use, is running in Sochi from September 29 to October 2. It brings together 140 participants from over 40 countries. Experts from Britain, India, Germany, China, Malaysia, Pakistan, and South Africa will speak on the sidelines. The organizers identified the main goal of the conference, as the world has entered an era of polycentricity, as the search for optimal solutions to avoid numerous risks and ways to maintain the stability of each individual state and the entire international system as a whole.