The harmony with France is on Russia, on the firm posture of the EU towards Moscow, but also on the issue of migrants. Draghi and Macron had a face-to-face about an hour before the European Council. We acknowledge the need for greater coordination in the Libyan scenario and in Central Africa, leaving behind the divergences of the past.
“We discussed the situation in North Africa and also in the Sahel and in Chad and Mali. Why countries like Libya and unfortunately the Tunisia, whose political situation is serious, become more and more Countries of transit», Explains the head of the government. With France, Draghi adds immediately after, «a collaboration has begun in a part of the world that, if anything, had always seen us on different if not conflicting shores. The intention, which will then find concreteness even in close encounters, is to work together in that part of Africa ”.
Ma the agreement with Paris is easier than that with the rest of the EU. During the Council Draghi urged colleagues to face a theme, like that of migrants, “That was it put to sleep for too long: I have offered numbers and data from the last few weeks and remarked that it is not a problem only for Italy, but also for other countries in Southern Europe ». And if the images of children shipwrecked on Libyan beaches, spread by Open Arms, “Are unacceptable”, the construction of a European agreement, albeit transitional, is not at all easy: “I must say – admits Draghi – that on the part of France and Germany above all there is awareness of the problem, but how much this leads to common and shared solutions is still to be built. The first steps, even on the part of the Commission, seem to show a certain awareness that a supportive response is needed, not indifferent. The issue of migration will be discussed in more detail in the next Council “.
Confirmation Macron: “We would be lying to ourselves if we said that in June we will resolve the migration package in its entirety”. The agreement to be reached in the EU on the management of flows, retorts Draghi, “it must be more effective. Pure voluntariness has proved to be quite ineffective, the agreement we are aiming for I do not think it can be an agreement that foresees mandatory, and in any case we can identify a subset of countries that help each other. But the forms in which this can happen must be taken back, we need to do better than the past».
But it is up Russia and Belarus that the EU Council has devoted much of the time. «We need to strengthen ourselves a lot, especially on the side of cybersecurity, at national and community level, because the level of interference, both with spies and through the manipulation of the web, it has truly become alarming, ”said Draghi at the end of the summit, without mincing words, speaking both of the case of the Ryanair flight hijacking to Minsk, but also of the relationship between the European Union and Russia. And in this case the level of tension between Brussels and Moscow it has now reached a watershed.
Macron talks about it, for whom with Putin’s government “we are at the moment of truth”, but Draghi is also very explicit, invoking defense actions against the espionage and interference of Moscow, “both individually as States, and all together: we are a strong continent, economically strong, and we must not consider ourselves weak when we make decisions”.
In short, the Belarus case and the EU’s precedents with Moscow cannot fail to be connected. Draghi himself does not avoid the question when asked if at the summit the alleged involvement of Moscow in the hijacking of the Ryanair plane in Minsk was discussed: “We talked about it, there is no evidence, but there are investigative activities in progress” . And there is also the precedent of the act of espionage against our country by an official of the Russian embassy in Italy. The head of the government never spoke about it in public. A reconnaissance has been carried out on the secrets stolen by the Russians, he now confirms, “but I can’t add anything else.”
May 25, 2021 (change May 25, 2021 | 23:43)
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