Prague, the capital of the former Czechoslovakia, the city to which Moscow sent tanks in 1988 to appease the yearning for freedom that would bring down the Soviet Union a year later, is today the scene of the largest concentration of European leaders in decades, more of forty leaders summoned to celebrate the first summit of the so-called European Political Community, a massive event that illustrates the international isolation in which Vladimir Putin's Russia and its closest ally, Belarus, finds itself.
"Europe has many problems right now and we are meeting to find solutions. The biggest problem Europe is facing right now is an aggressive war. Russia continues with its unjust aggression against Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is opposed to negotiations, his only goal is to conquer territory and its latest actions of last week confirm this," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, host of the meeting, said at the opening of the summit, which was attended by countries with a more lukewarm attitude towards the Kremlin than the maintained by the EU, from Serbia to Turkey, accused surreptitiously of actually helping circumvent the sanctions.
The family photo taken today in the overwhelming Prague Castle, with Moscow as the target, has brought together the leaders of the 27 countries that are part of the European Union and those who want to join, from the Balkan republics to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. To those who have given up doing so (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) and to one who has abandoned it (United Kingdom), and several who are rather part of their eastern neighborhood (Azerbaijan, Armenia...). Only Russia and Belarus are missing. "And it's for a good reason," said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo.
The massive attendance of leaders sends "a message of unity" at a time when the continent has been shaken by the war in Ukraine, highlighted French President Emmanuel Macron, the intellectual father of the creature, heir to a failed project launched , also in Prague, in 1991 at the request of François Mitterrand and Václav Havel. A total of 43 countries have sent their heads of state or government (only Denmark has been absent for reasons of internal politics).
"The idea is not new, it is reborn every time there is a crisis, we hope that another one will not be needed to meet again", commented the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama. Like other candidate countries, they arrive with some resentment at the European Political Community becoming an alternative to accession to the European Union, which is the ultimate goal of many of the participants. The leaders of the community club have assured them that it is "a complement." As Macron and, decades ago, Mitterrand have said, the EU "cannot be the only way to structure the continent".
Behind the smiles of the family photo, however, there are latent conflicts between neighboring countries that have forced European diplomacy to put together a complicated puzzle, so that no one has to sit next to the representative of a rival country. Thus, the debates have been organized around two major issues (energy and economy, on the one hand, and, on the other, peace and security) with the leaders divided into four tables. Thus, Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdogan will not sit down with the leaders of Greece and Cyprus, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Anastasidis. The representatives of Serbia and Kosovo, on the one hand, and Azerbaijan and Armenia on the other, will also be far away.
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has described the initiative as "magnificent", which he will soon have the opportunity to organize if, as everything indicates, the leaders decide today to give it continuity. The goal is to hold a summit every six months, alternating between EU and non-EU countries. Thus, the next summit of the European Political Community will take place in the first half of 2023 in Moldova, an election that wants to be a show of support for its prime minister, Natalia Gavrilița, subjected to strong pressure from the opposition and the forces prorussian Next, it would be the turn of the EU; with Spain in the rotating presidency of the Council, the summit would be held in Granada in October, the day before the extraordinary European Council that is already scheduled in the Andalusian city.
Sánchez shares a table today with the British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, who agreed to attend the summit, her first foray onto the European scene, after obtaining guarantees from Macron that she will not be an appendage of the EU. The leaders of Albania and North Macedonia will also sit down with them to discuss energy and the economy. However, it is expected that there will be mobility among the leaders, who will be able to easily hold bilateral meetings informally. The leaders are expected to close the meeting by sharing some common ideas about the challenges facing the continent and also announcing cooperation projects.
