During the informal EU summit in Cyprus, it was said for the first time that there should be a proposal for a European mandate to negotiate with Russia. Prime Minister Bart De Wever said this on Friday after the summit in front of the cameras of VRT and VTM.
Ann De Nil
Journalist at HLN
Source: Belga
LOOK. De Wever wants a mandate to negotiate with Russia: “It has become mainstream thinking”
De Wever reiterated his plea on Thursday to appoint a special EU envoy with a view to possible negotiations with Russia on the war in Ukraine. The idea has been circulating for some time, but few leaders say out loud that they advocate direct talks with Russia. The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, is not in favor of this.
“That can’t be enough”
The subject was also discussed during discussions among leaders on Thursday evening about Ukraine, and De Wever noticed that his idea has become “mainstream”.
“We finance the war with the 90 billion (the European loan to Ukraine that was approved this week, ed.) that we give to Ukraine. We must remain 100 percent behind Ukraine and we say with that loan to Russia that they can never win that war,” said the prime minister. “But that cannot be enough. We cannot let this war continue for years to come, with all the human suffering. People are being slaughtered for nothing.”
For De Wever, it is unacceptable that the EU cannot even take the initiative to negotiate a war on its own continent. “To say: stop this madness, stop this war after four years, it’s not going anywhere,” he said. “And I have noticed that that has become mainstream thinking.”
“Very curious to see how that debate will continue”
For the first time, leaders have said that there must be a proposal for a European negotiating mandate. “I am very curious to see how that debate will continue,” he concluded.
