The third summit of the European Political Community, which brings together leaders from around 50 countries, ended Thursday in Granada, southern Spain, without statements to journalists and marked by demonstrations of support for Ukraine and Armenia.
The meeting was organized by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), which will take place in the second half of this year, and took place on the eve of an informal meeting, also in Granada, of the European Council, where the leaders of the 27 countries sit within the community bloc.
The meeting of the European Political Community (CPE) was attended by delegations from around 50 countries, including the 27 of the EU and the Presidents of the Commission, Council and European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel and Roberta Metsola, respectively.
Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa, who attended the October 5 ceremonies, was not at the summit’s debate sessions, but will participate in a visit and dinner at the Alhambra Palace in Granada, by CPE leaders, accompanied by kings of Spain .
Initially, the summit was planned to end with a joint statement to journalists, before the visit and dinner at the Alhambra, by the host, the current Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, by the next host, the leader of the British government . , Rishi Sunak, and the previous one, the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu.
However, these joint statements were withdrawn, with European sources justifying the British Prime Minister’s agenda for reasons that forced Sunak to leave Grenada immediately after the debates.
Today’s meeting had three themes of debate, around which round tables of leaders were present, in sessions closed to the media.
These three axes were digitalization and in particular the challenges and benefits of artificial intelligence; energy and the environment; and multilateralism.
In statements to journalists upon arrival at the meeting and in the summit’s opening speeches, most European leaders reiterated their support for Ukraine, whose president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was also in Granada today.
The Ukrainian president asked European leaders for “a winter defense shield” against Russia, given the different types of attacks, emphasizing the need to “save the unity of Europe.”
“Russia will attack us with information and disinformation, among other things. That is why it is important that Ukraine has a defense shield for the winter,” Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Another theme that marked the leaders’ statements at the entrance of the meeting was the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, territory targeted by military action by Azerbaijan on September 19, which led to the flight of thousands of people to Armenia.
Contrary to what was expected until a few days ago, no meeting between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan took place in Granada today, as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev canceled his participation in the CPE summit.
The President of the European Commission announced the doubling to €10.4 million of European humanitarian aid to Armenia, in response to the humanitarian needs created by the arrival in the country of 100,000 Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakho .
Von der Leyen said she would have a bilateral meeting with the Armenian Prime Minister today in Granada and recalled that the EU immediately condemned Azerbaijan’s military action in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We called for the resumption of dialogue and a peaceful solution. We are working on that,” he added, further saying: “Support for Armenia is important to us.”
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, in turn regretted the absence in Grenada of Azerbaijan and Turkey, “the main country supporting Azerbaijan”.
“That is why we cannot talk here about something as serious as the fact that more than 100,000 people have been forced to leave their homes,” Borrell told reporters.
“We condemn military force to resolve conflicts, we help refugees and we hope that meetings can take place in Brussels between Armenia and Azerbaijan to prevent the conflict from developing further and to stabilize Armenia politically,” he added.
In addition to the bilateral meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, the Prime Minister of Armenia also met with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, the leader of the German government, Olaf Scholz, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
Michel told journalists that there is no room for surrender in the search for an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, despite the “setbacks”.
“European diplomacy is working. It is extremely important that we do not surrender, we will never surrender. And I think diplomatic efforts are necessary, even if there are difficulties, even if there are setbacks,” he said.
Source: DN
