According to a draft by the EU summit, the EU heads of state and government are considering further punitive measures against Moscow. A possible EU accession of Ukraine is controversial.
The EU heads of state and government pledge further aid to Ukraine and threaten Russia with new sanctions. This emerges from a draft for the Ukraine declaration of the informal EU summit in Versailles on Thursday and Friday, available to the Reuters news agency. “We will ensure that all sanctions are fully implemented. And we stand ready to act quickly with further sanctions if necessary,” it said.
An immediate ceasefire in the war in Ukraine has been demanded from Russia. With regard to Ukraine’s application for membership of the European Union, submitted on February 28, it is said that regardless of this examination, the intention is to strengthen relations and deepen the partnership with the country.
The Ukraine war overshadows a two-day special summit of EU heads of state and government, including Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), in Versailles, France, which begins on Thursday. At the summit, in view of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the EU also wants to agree on strengthening its defense capacities, including higher defense spending. Another focus is the reduction of energy dependency on Russia.
>>> To the Ukraine live reporting
“Association plus plus” instead of joining
In addition, EU Council President Charles Michel announced that the EU would “discuss Ukraine’s application for membership in the coming days”. While Austria and Germany, among others, are stepping on the brakes, eastern EU states such as Poland and Slovenia are demanding accession prospects for Ukraine. The current French EU Council Presidency has also dampened Ukrainian hopes for rapid EU accession. The topic is “not for tomorrow,” said French Europe Minister Clement Beaune on Thursday before the informal summit of the 27 EU heads of state and government in Versailles. “It will take time,” he added on French radio station France Inter. However, he did not rule this out for the future.
The EU summit on Thursday and Friday should also deal with further sanctions against Russia, aid for Ukraine and an answer to the economic slump feared by the Russian invasion. Instead of Ukraine’s accession, EU diplomats had discussed “association plus plus”, ie closer ties between Ukraine and the EU internal market. Beaune underlined the EU’s goal of making itself independent of Russian energy supplies.
Paris had discussed another EU aid fund based on the model of the Corona reconstruction fund, which is intended to strengthen European defense and security of energy supply. The Corona Fund has a volume of 750 billion euros, and the EU Commission can take out loans itself. However, the French proposal was met with skepticism in a number of EU countries such as the Netherlands.
(APA/Reuters/dpa)