Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said on arrival that it was “encouraging … that Europe is stepping up” in response to “great changes” in global order, calling for the bloc to rapidly press ahead with “concrete steps” on defence as she arrived in Brussels for the special European Council summit.
She said that Europe should be able to defend itself “within three to five years,” with the primary and “credible” threat coming from Russia.
In particular, she urged countries “a bit further away” from Russia to listen and follow the lead of what she called “the front states” with “historical experience with Russia, negative in all countries.”
Frederiksen also asserted that “only Ukraine can determine Ukraine’s future,” as she rejected Moscow’s plans to “decide who should be members of the EU, who should be members of Nato,” saying that view “cannot be accepted under any circumstances” and would mean Europe “lost.”
She also pointed out that Putin “could stop the war now,” if he wanted, as it remains the sole aggressor in the conflict.
“There was a conversation between president Trump and president Putin, and what do the Russians do after that? They bomb Ukraine. That is a strange way for Russia to make peace,” she said.
Europe safe, armed, and united against Russia
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk spoke with reporters in Warsaw early morning, before leaving for Brussels, saying the EU summit will be about “finalising the first stage of perhaps the most important European project in last decades: making Europe safe, armed, and united against the Russian threat.”
“You may remember how oftentimes we were alone in warning other European partners against the Russian threat … and now are about to see Europe unite around the very same problem that often saw Poland stand alone,” he said.
Tusk also urged Poland’s president Andrzej Duda to sign into law the bill on migration and asylum law changes, giving the government’s the right to temporarily suspend asylum applications from irregular migrants.
He said the move was needed to counter “the pressure on our border with Belarus … which is growing” as he accused Alexander Lukashenko and Russia’s Vladimir Putin of encouraging irregular migration to put pressure on the EU’s external borders, waging “a de facto war – they call it hybrid [war], but it’s something more serious than hybrid war” against Poland.
“EU simply needs to act “
Whilst addressing a press conference on her talks with EU leaders this morning, European Parliament president Roberta Metsola said that “all the cliche that we are at the crossroads that we have been saying … for many years, no longer applies,” as the bloc simply needs to act “to ensure Europe is safer, stronger and simpler.”
She says that EU citizens say they expect the blog to “take a bigger role in protecting them,” as she urged leaders to move beyond rhetoric and take actions.
She warned that “we have no time to waste on Ukraine,” insisting Europe needs “a real and lasting peace” guaranteeing sovereignty of Ukraine.
She also spoke on EU efforts on competitiveness and budget.
“Europe’s citizens are watching … us [on] what we do today, tomorrow, in the next few weeks and months, they expect action, and they expect it quickly,” she said.