Almost 50 heads of state and government are expected to attend the European summit in Moldova. It stands under the sign of the Russian war of aggression. A clear front should be formed against the Kremlin.
Blue European flags and those of the Republic of Moldova wave peacefully side by side on the main streets of Chisinau. They symbolize not only the small country with its 2.6 million inhabitants, but also the largest international event in its history: the meeting of the European Political Community, EPG for short.
For pro-European President Maia Sandu, it is a clear sign that her country – and Ukraine too – are not alone in times of Russian war of aggression and attempts by the Kremlin to influence them. She sees the summit, which is taking place on a vineyard around 20 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, as proof of greater cohesion on the European continent.
Not all participants support the sanctions
“Moldova is not alone,” assured several heads of state and government on Twitter in the run-up to this summit. A spokesman for the federal government described it as a sign against Russian imperialism. In addition to the heads of the EU institutions, almost 50 heads of state and government from Europe are expected to attend this second meeting of the EPG. They come from the 27 EU member states, but also from Great Britain, Norway and countries in the Western Balkans. Russia and Belarus, on the other hand, are not included.
French President Emmanuel Macron had the idea for the EPG a year ago. However, some people wondered what added value such a summit has in view of numerous other formats. The European Political Community is the EU’s answer to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, says Barbara Lippert from the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik – even if there are countries like Serbia, which do not support the EU sanctions against Russia.
“The main thing here is to get together at the highest political level to form a clear front against Russia and also against the satellite state of Belarus,” explains Lippert. That is the real message. “That means the added value lies in the fact that you meet together and send this clear message.”
Bilateral conflicts should also be an issue
Representatives from EU member states and non-members want to take the opportunity to exchange views on current topics, sometimes in smaller, sometimes in larger groups. Macron announced that energy, migration, security, defence, infrastructure and geopolitics will be discussed in Moldova.
On the fringes of the summit, Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz want to talk to representatives from Serbia and Kosovo as well as from Azerbaijan and Armenia about the current bilateral conflicts. “As far as the European Political Community is concerned, it is quite deliberately a meeting at the level of the heads of state and government, where they sit together and have real discussions with one another without the need to make decisions,” said the Chancellor . Otherwise there would be a bureaucratic institutionalization process. “And that’s exactly what we didn’t want.”
Weber: “No kind of waiting room”
For the chairman of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber from the CSU, the meeting of the EPG is a sign that Europe stands together. But he also warned against using this format to put off countries that are striving to join the EU: “We must be careful that the European Political Community does not become a kind of waiting room for the larger idea of European unification.” Those who want to become members should also be assured that they have a perspective of becoming a member. “It must not come to first and second class Europeans.”
The EU said that the European Political Community is not about enlargement. Discussions on this are being held elsewhere – including with the accession candidates Ukraine and Moldova. The small country hopes to be admitted to the EU in a fast-track procedure by 2030.