https://sputnikglobe.com/20231007/european-leaders-epc-forum-fails-to-produce-results-worthy-of-press-conference-1113978643.html
European Leaders' EPC Forum Fails to Produce Results Worthy of Press Conference
European Leaders' EPC Forum Fails to Produce Results Worthy of Press Conference
Sputnik International
The gathering of European leaders in Spain for the European Political Community forum failed to cough up any decisions worth mentioning.
2023-10-07T04:16+0000
2023-10-07T04:16+0000
2023-10-07T04:16+0000
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A gathering of 49 European leaders in Spain’s Granada, for all of the plethora of bilateral meetings held, has failed to cough up any decisions worth mentioning.Billed as a platform for seeking solutions to escalating hotbeds of regional tensions, take three of the European Political Community was such a flop that even the final press conference of the October 5 gathering was ditched. Interviews to the press were noticeably lacking from leaders such as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and even France’s President Emmanuel Macron was tight-lipped. As to why the final press conference of the EPC was canceled, one EU diplomat was cited as saying that there were “no fundamental issues” that would call for press statements, adding that, “It’s a marketplace where leaders can wheel and deal.”Firstly, some key players were a no-show. Thus, attempts to wade in and play a peacemaking role in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue by the informal forum were sunk when both Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opted to give the EPC forum a wide berth, with Erdogan citing a cold as the excuse.The hosts had hoped to broker the first sit-down between Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. However, Azerbaijan slammed what it saw as French bias with respect to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after remarks made by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. Speaking in the Armenian capital, Colonna pledged “delivery of military equipment to Armenia so that it can ensure its defense.” Accordingly, Azerbaijan agreed to negotiations under the auspices of the EU in Brussels, as per Ilham Aliyev’s presidential aide.Next on the agenda had been Kosovo - Serbia tensions.Kosovo’s head Vjosa Osmani flat outright refused to hold talks at the forum with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic unless sanctions were imposed against Belgrade.On Ukraine, it’s hardly a surprise that the typical verbal assurances of support were extended to President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in Granada pleading for aid after funds for the Kiev regime were left out of the stopgap measure that US Congress passed to avert a government shutdown.Ukraine's President attended the European forum as Kiev has been dangled the hope of becoming a member of the EU bloc. The European Union is preparing to launch formal talks on possible Ukrainian accession, despite dire warnings by senior officials that it might entail "financial conundrum" for EU, and erode the pan-European project’s political cohesion. Feeding into these fears, former European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said that Ukraine in its current state is corrupt to the core and absolutely ineligible to join the EU.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230928/armenias-pashinyan-sold-out-nagorno-karabakh-to-us-interests-1113767192.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230925/direct-threat-of-resumption-of-ethnic-cleansing-in-kosovo-exists---russian-foreign-ministry-1113661030.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231004/ukraines-membership-would-entail-financial-conundrum-for-eu-erode-its-cohesion-1113917891.html
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european political community forum, european leaders gathering in granada, spain, epc informal forum
european political community forum, european leaders gathering in granada, spain, epc informal forum
European Leaders' EPC Forum Fails to Produce Results Worthy of Press Conference
The European Political Community, a pet project by Emmanuel Macron that held its inaugural summit in Prague last October, had been touted by the French President as ostensibly tailored to "play an important role in defusing conflicts”.
A gathering of 49 European leaders in Spain’s Granada, for all of the plethora of bilateral meetings held, has failed to cough up any decisions worth mentioning.
Billed as a platform for seeking solutions to escalating hotbeds of regional tensions, take three of the
European Political Community was such a flop that even the final press conference of the October 5 gathering was ditched. Interviews to the press were noticeably lacking from leaders such as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and even France’s President Emmanuel Macron was tight-lipped. As to why the final press conference of the EPC was canceled, one EU diplomat was cited as saying that there were “no fundamental issues” that would call for press statements, adding that, “
It’s a marketplace where leaders can wheel and deal.”In May 2022, Emmanuel Macron had proposed a special, separate "political union" of countries like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, which he said "share European values" but are for one reason or another unwilling or unable to join the EU at the moment. After the Ukraine conflict had escalated, the Kiev regime had been hammering at the door of the EU. Furthermore, president of the European Council Charles Michel had touted the forum as a venue that could "play an important role in defusing conflicts”.
Firstly, some key players were a no-show. Thus, attempts to wade in and play a peacemaking role in the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue by the informal forum were sunk when both Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opted to give the EPC forum a wide berth, with Erdogan citing a cold as the excuse.
The hosts had hoped to broker the first sit-down between Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. However, Azerbaijan slammed what it saw as French bias with respect to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after remarks made by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. Speaking in the Armenian capital, Colonna pledged “delivery of military equipment to Armenia so that it can ensure its defense.” Accordingly, Azerbaijan agreed to negotiations under the auspices of the EU in Brussels, as per Ilham Aliyev’s presidential aide.
28 September 2023, 17:11 GMT
Next on the agenda had been
Kosovo - Serbia tensions.
The latest wave of tensions flared in late September as Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that unidentified people opened fire on Kosovo police officers in the northern municipality of Zvecan, killing one and wounding another. The shooting occurred around 03:00 a.m. local time (01:00 GMT) near the village of Banjska, some 30 miles from Pristina. Later, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that several Serbs were killed and injured in the clashes with police in northern Kosovo and Metohija.
Kosovo’s head Vjosa Osmani flat outright refused to hold talks at the forum with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic unless sanctions were imposed against Belgrade.
25 September 2023, 16:15 GMT
On Ukraine, it’s hardly a surprise that the typical verbal assurances of support were extended to President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in Granada pleading for aid after
funds for the Kiev regime were left out of the stopgap measure that US Congress passed to avert a government shutdown.
Ukraine's President attended the European forum as Kiev has been dangled the hope of becoming
a member of the EU bloc. The European Union is preparing to launch formal talks on possible Ukrainian accession, despite dire warnings by senior officials that it might entail "financial conundrum" for EU, and erode the pan-European project’s political cohesion.
Feeding into these fears, former European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said that Ukraine in its current state is corrupt to the core and absolutely ineligible to join the EU.
4 October 2023, 13:57 GMT
