European leaders meet this Thursday and Friday in Brussels, in a summit that is expected to be “long.” It is the last meeting of the year, among the 27. On the table are issues such as the Middle East, Enlargement, Long-term Budget, Security and Defense, Foreign Relations and Ukraine.
At this point it is still “unpredictable” whether it will be possible to unlock financial support for kyiv. A deal worth 50 billion euros is at stake to give Ukraine a prospect of “long-term stability.”
With a call for “political support” for kyiv, the president of the European Council launched the ideas for this summit. Charles Michel warns that commitments to Ukraine must be fulfilled “if the European Union wants to remain a reliable partner.”
In the letter of invitation he addressed to European leaders, Charles Michel defends an “agreement” regarding the opening of negotiations for the accession of Ukraine, putting the entire file of the enlargement of the European Union on the table.
Money
The President of the European Council warns that “new challenges entail new obligations.” New money needs to be put on the table to strengthen the European Union budget. Charles Michel calls for commitment and unity.
But, among the 27, there are those who threaten to veto any proposal that could result in support for kyiv, as is the case of Viktor Orbán’s Hungarian Prime Minister. Hungary’s representative threatens to veto funds for Ukraine, but also to block discussions on enlargement.
Because?
In December 2022, Brussels froze an amount of 22 billion euros for Hungary, due to Budapest’s reluctance to the reforms demanded by the European Union, that is, those aimed at guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary.
Over the past year, Hungarian authorities have been implementing reforms to strengthen the role and powers of the National Judicial Council, which is responsible for overseeing the administration of Hungarian courts. The mundanes also seek to guarantee the independence of the Hungarian Supreme Court.
With these changes, Brussels unfreezes a first tranche of 10 billion euros. But the decision made on the eve of a summit at which Viktor Orban threatens to destroy the unanimity needed to support Ukraine is considered controversial.
In the European Parliament, leaders of four political groups, including Europe’s two largest political families, expressed concern that conditions were “not met.”
The concern was expressed in a letter sent to the president of the European Commission, in which they suggest that the independence of the judiciary is not guaranteed, calling into question the rule of law, with “the proposal of the so-called defense sovereignty.” law”.
“This proposal would allow the Prime Minister to create a new authority directly under his control, endowed with extensive powers without any democratic control. This risks being used to further silence opposition parties, NGOs and other critics of the government “warns the signed letter. Manfred Weber (PPE) and Iratxe García (PSE).
middle East
European leaders will also discuss the current situation in the Middle East, call for the release of all hostages and raise awareness about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The debate on the Middle East should also focus on sanctions, which were already discussed at the meeting of Foreign Ministers, in the antechamber of the summit.
The European Union is considering sanctions on Israeli settlers occupying the West Bank. At this Monday’s meeting in Brussels, “no State opposed” the proposal launched by the High Representative of the European Union for foreign policy, Josep Borrell.
Minister João Gomes Cravinho stated that “from now on work will begin on the definition of a package of sanctions for settlers in the West Bank, who in fact have benefited, at the very least, from complacency, if not from a certain connivance, by the Israel Defense Forces.”
The minister affirmed that there is “unanimous support” for the European Union to work on a package of sanctions against Hamas. “There was a discussion about what this means, Hamas, it means only the military wing, that is, the 40,000 public servants who work under the authority of Hamas, or who have worked,” questioned João Gomes Cravinho, revealing that “the consensus was that we are talking about the military capacity of Hamas.”
A long summit is expected, with difficult files to decide on. However, there will still be time for a debate on Defense and the military capabilities of the European Union.
“In terms of security and defense, we will continue to implement our ambition to build a stronger geopolitical union, providing guidance on the main lines of work and building on the Versailles Declaration and the Strategic Commitment,” he stated in the invitation letter.
“More needs to be done to quickly meet the Union’s objectives of increasing defense preparedness. We must also work on the creation of an internal market for defence, which is crucial to strengthen our Union in this area,” he added.
Source: TSF
