EU leaders meet today in Brussels/ Focus on Ukraine, China and immigration

2023-06-29 08:18:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The leaders of the 27 member countries will gather today in Brussels for a summit with a busy agenda.

The two-day European Council meeting lacks a clear thematic focus and will instead touch on a range of topics, including military support for Ukraine, the confiscation of frozen Russian assets, economic threats posed by China and the latest flare-up of tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.

Emigration will be the focus of discussions, especially in the context of cooperation with neighboring countries to curb the arrival of new asylum seekers.

Closer to the talks will be the short-lived uprising launched over the weekend by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner Group mercenary troops, an extraordinary moment of defiance against Vladimir Putin's rule that European governments are still trying to grasp.

"Russia's war in Ukraine continues unabated. Our steadfast unity stands in contrast to the division in Russia shown by this weekend's events," wrote Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, in his invitation to leaders.

The summit will start on Thursday afternoon and will be preceded by a lunch with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg. The talks about Ukraine are expected to be multifaceted and complex.

EU leaders will discuss a new €50bn proposal to provide Kiev with long-term financial support, a €500m military aid package that remains blocked by Hungary, progress made in the enlargement process and the possibility of providing long-term security guarantees to Ukraine, although this last point will not be fulfilled until the NATO summit in mid-July.

The still unresolved issue of how to use frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank to pay for the reconstruction of the war-torn country is also expected to be part of the long debate.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the diplomats say there is political will to move forward with the project to invest the assets and redirect the profits to Ukraine, but there are still many legal pitfalls along the way.

Complicating matters, the European Central Bank has raised concerns about the potentially damaging effects the unproven move could have on financial stability and the euro's role as a global reserve currency.

For China, the discussion will be structured around the economic security strategy recently presented by the European Commission, the first of its kind.

The strategy, which does not mention China by name but is clearly inspired by strained relations between the bloc and the Asian superpower, recommends greater oversight over exports of modern technology that could "increase the military capabilities of some countries of concern".

Ndonëse nuk është aq i ashpër sa fjalimi historik i mbajtur nga Ursula von der Leyen në fund të marsit, dokumenti bazohet në idenë e saj për të "çuar rrezikun" si qasja e zakonshme për t'u marrë me Pekinin, një koncept i miratuar më vonë nga Grupi i Shtatë.

Lidhur me emigracionin, udhëheqësit do të zmadhojnë të ashtuquajturin "dimension i jashtëm", ??gjuhë e koduar për thellimin e bashkëpunimit me vendet joanëtare të BE-së, në mënyrë që të parandalojnë emigrantët të arrijnë në brigjet e bllokut.

Në fillim të këtij muaji, Komisioni Evropian miratoi një paketë prej 100 milionë eurosh për Tunizinë për të përmirësuar menaxhimin e kufijve, e cila do të pasohet nga një memorandum mirëkuptimi javën e ardhshme.

Por ajo që saktësisht do të thotë përforcimi i "dimensionit të jashtëm" është ende në ajër.

A small group of countries, believed to include Austria and Denmark among others, are pushing to explore "innovative solutions" to reduce the number of migrants, a term other member states interpret as measures that will in practice were incompatible with international law./ CNA