The heads of State and Government of the European Union agreed this Thursday to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and grant to Georgia the status of candidate countryas announced by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on the social network once the necessary degree of compliance with the accession criteria has been achieved”.
The European Council has decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine & Moldova. #EUCO granted candidate status to Georgia. And the EU will open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina once the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is reached and…
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) December 14, 2023
The decision did not seem like it would be made first thing in the morning, when the leaders made their entrance. “There are no reasons to negotiate Ukraine’s accession now,” said the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán. This Wednesday, the European Commission announced the in extremis release of 10.2 billion in European funds for Hungary.
“The expansion is not a theoretical question. It is merit-based and legally detailed (a process) that has preconditions. “We have set seven preconditions and even in the Commission’s evaluation, 3 of the 7 are not met, so there are no reasons to negotiate Ukraine’s accession now,” said Orbán upon his arrival at the European Council headquarters, minutes before meeting with the hard core of the European leadership, the president of the European Council, Charles Michelfrom the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenfrom France, Emmanuel Macronand from Germany, Olaf Scholz.
In addition to this decision, the second element on which it keeps its pulse refers to the 50 billion package in financial assistance for Ukraine for the period 2024-2027. An amount that is negotiated within the framework of the review of the EU’s multiannual budgetary framework and that Orbán advocates leaving outside the community budget.
Until the weekend?
Two issues, accession and financing, that require the unanimity of the Twenty-Seven – the remaining 26 agree – and that will force the rest of European leaders this Thursday and Friday to be persuasive and imaginative in the search for solutions. “I have the feeling that it is going to be quite long so we are going to have to be there all day, a good part of the night and we hope we can finish on Friday. If not, it may continue until the weekend but the issues are worth it,” said the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez. “It’s going to be a difficult meeting. It’s going to take us time. “Be prepared to be there until Saturday or Sunday,” the Irishman agreed. Leo Varadkar.
Sánchez, like the rest of the 25 European leaders, consider that it is necessary to send a positive message to kyiv, as well as to Moldova, Georgia and the Western Balkans. But above all to a Ukraine that faces its second winter under the Kremlin’s missiles. “I am ready to negotiate as long as it lasts. I have one main point: our security and our existence as a credible union. “We need strong decisions,” defended the Finn. Petteri Orpo who has warned that “the threat from Russia is real” and that “we cannot accept any type of blackmail.” He has not been the only one who has referred to the Hungarian politician’s manners. “We have had difficult times in recent years with difficult discussions. Maintaining that unity is really crucial, and I don’t want to get into some kind of bazaar logic,” said the Belgian. Alexander de Croo. The Lithuanian Nauseda Gypsies He has also warned of the consequences of abusing the principle of unanimity and has insisted that guaranteeing the disbursement of 50 billion to Ukraine is necessary to “preserve the country.”
Zelensky’s appeal
The first thing that the Twenty-Seven have done, after the usual exchange with the president of the European Chamber, Roberta Metsola, is to listen to the president of Ukraine by videoconference, Volodymyr Zelensky, which has reminded them that this is not the time for “red tape,” “doubts,” nor “indecisions” but to give the green light to the opening of accession negotiations with your country. “No one wants Europe to be seen as untrustworthy or incapable of making decisions that it itself has prepared.” because the only one who benefits from this will be Vladimir Putin. “People will not understand that Putin’s satisfied smile is the result of a meeting in Brussels,” he added.
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Despite this call, for now the deep division remains. The Twenty-Seven have started the meeting with the negotiation of the review of the EU budget framework for the period 2021-2027. As a consequence of the impact of the war in Ukraine and the pandemic, last June the European Commission proposed an additional disbursement for the budget of 66 billion between 2024 and 2027 with which to meet the needs for Ukraine, migration policy and promote priorities. digital and green and competitiveness.
Within the framework of this proposal, Brussels proposed allocating 50 billion for Ukraine, 33 billion in the form of loans and 17 billion in the form of aid. 26 of the 27 member states agree on the financial assistance package for Ukraine, all except Orban, although there are countries who want to reduce the “fresh” money as much as possible. which in the last negotiation box has been reduced from 66,000 to 22,500 million, according to the sources consulted. “There is one important thing. “We have to succeed in making financial ease possible for Ukraine and creating the foundations for it to continue its resistance to Russia’s aggression,” Olaf Scholz has warned.