The foreign ministers of the Member States of the European Union (EU) meet this Monday in Brussels to discuss support for Ukraine and the situation in the Sahel region in Africa.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started almost a year ago, remains the dominant topic at EU foreign ministers’ meetings and the first meeting in 2023 will be no exception. On the table is the support that Member States have given kyiv for almost a year and how to improve it in the future.
The supply of tanks to Ukraine should be one of the main topics of the discussion, which will include the participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, João Gomes Cravinho (former Minister of Defense).
On Sunday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a television interview with French channel LCI that her country will allow Poland to deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine if Warsaw asks for such authorization, which had not happened so far.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany would continue to support Ukraine, but did not respond to questions about supplying heavier weapons. The German deadlock dominated the joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron during the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
The issue is sending German-made Leopard 02 tanks to help Ukrainian troops, which Berlin has resisted. Last week it was impossible to unlock the shipment of these combat vehicles during a meeting of NATO member states in Ramstein, Germany.
Berlin has been pressured by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to authorize the shipment of these tanks and by Washington, as well as by most of the EU and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) countries. On the other hand, Moscow has already left warnings that the supply of tanks could be seen by the Kremlin as an escalation of tensions.
Scheduled to begin at 10:00 local time (09:00 in Lisbon), the meeting will be chaired by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, and will also address the situation of instability in the African region of the Sahel, as well as as in the coastal areas of West African nations.
On January 10, the EU approved the extension of the mandate of the mission in Mali until January 31, 2025 and allocated 73 million euros to this initiative, which will begin to be distributed from February 1 of this year.
Within the scope of this mission, Brussels will facilitate the deployment of forces to help control the unstable situation in the south of the country, particularly the National Police, and the redirection of forces towards the center, based on the assessments made.
Situation reports on Iran, Armenia, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Montenegro and Ethiopia are also planned, as well as informal contacts with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
At 18:00 there will be a press conference by Josep Borrell.
Source: TSF
