2023-10-04 05:00:00
A police officer of the almost 5,000 agents deployed for the European summit keeps watch at the Granada airport. Alex Cámara | EUROPAPRESS
The immigration debate will be another of the main points of the meeting of European leaders. Armenia and Azerbaijan could take advantage of the meeting in Spain to take steps towards peace
04 oct 2023 . Updated at 05:00 a.m.
Granada woke up Wednesday shielded by the arrival of 51 European heads of State and Government for a summit that pursues the enlargement of the member countries of the European Union and trace the future of cooperation of the Twenty-Seven for the period from 2024 to 2029. A meeting that, in the words of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, marks the beginning of an important process of reflection on the future priorities of our Union.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia – excluded from the event along with Belarus – opened a wound in the Old Continent that has revealed the need for greater cohesion between States. Therefore, the summit will have as its main axis the expansion of the community club. The Balkan countriesAlbania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia—, together with Ukraine and Turkey, will seek to be chosen to begin the accession process or take further steps towards that objective. Kosovo y Georgia They will attend as potential candidates, although the first faces the fact that five European countries, including Spain, do not recognize their independence. Moldova is invited, but without European aspirations.
It is also expected that both Armenia as Azerbaijanand possibly with Turkey as an arbitrator, will manage to sign an agreement aimed at peace after the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, which sought union with the Christian majority country, returned to Azerbaijani control weeks ago and will disappear on the first day of the 2024. Because security will be another of the vertebrae of the summit, in which Ukraine will also participate although President Volodmir Zelensky’s attendance is not confirmed, He will try to take another step in his candidacy to join the EU and obtain a reliable commitment from the Twenty-Seven to support the defense of his country as much as possible.
Next Thursday there will be several round tables on digitalization, energy and multilateralism and the bilateral meetings agreed upon by the invited countries. But Friday will be when the Twenty-Seven will approve the Granada Declaration, which will collect the main lines of European coordination for the coming years.
Immigration debate
The immigration debate will be another of the main points of the meeting of European leaders in Granada, at the request of the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. The Twenty-Seven hope to soon agree on a common position regarding the crisis management tool.
Poland, Czechia and Austria shield their borders against migratory pressure
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But although the principle of agreement passed last week after Germany’s change of position, there are still fringes to close with Italy. Poland, Hungary and Slovakia were also against the regulation, which establishes a series of solidarity measures in the face of massive arrivals of migrants.
A dinner worth almost 140,000 euros at the Alhambra
The kings of Spain will preside over the reception of the heads of state and government at the Alhambra, where a dinner will be held on Thursday after a guided tour led by the monument’s board of trustees. Pedro Sánchez’s Executive has spent almost 140,000 euros on this invitation, which will be provided by chef Paco Morales. A measured choice to also entertain guests from the most eastern Europe and connect the culinary experience with Islamic roots from the city. Morales, the Government indicates, has been recognized as the greatest current exponent of Andalusian food and recreates the tradition of Al ndalus in a contemporary way.
After dinner, there will be an official photo of the guests at the Alhambra. The family photo of the Twenty-Seven will be taken at the Congress Palace on Friday.
Filed under: EU Ukraine Summit
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