‘zero time’ for new European decisions to support Ukraine – Account increased

Under the tension caused by the newer statements of its president, Emmanuel Macron on the possible development of French troops in Brussels, the European summit will be held next Thursday and Friday (21 – 22 March 2024) in Brussels. Germany, France and Poland are trying to resolve recent differences in support for Ukraine and other issues. “We stand closely and firmly on the side of Ukraine,” German Chancellor Olaf Solz (SPD) said at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Berlin last week. The three countries exchange ideas on a regular basis and the format is called the “Terror of Weimar”. “ last high – level meeting was held in June last year. We will do everything to keep Russia from winning the war,” Macron said. Tusk rejected the “speech” of disagreements, saying that the three leaders spoke in one voice. Recently tensions had arisen, especially with France. Macron caused anger in Berlin when he did not rule out the development of Western land forces in Ukraine and insulted other countries as “demonstrations”. But Poland also increases pressure, for example because it supports higher defence spending within NATO. The common goal is to support Ukraine in such a way that it can defend itself effectively against the Russian attack, Solz said. They will procure weapons for Ukraine across the world market, expand their own productive capacities, remove revenues from frozen Russian assets and jointly provide Ukraine with long-range missile artillery. Details will be discussed by the defence ministers of Ukraine’s supporters today (18,3.24) as part of Germany’s so-called Ramstein scheme, where the American military base is located. During a two-day summit, EU leaders will discuss continued support for Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion, security and defence, the evolving situation in the Middle East, enlargement, external relations, migration, agriculture and the European Semester. In particular, EU leaders will discuss continued support for Ukraine and its people in response to Russia’s military aggression. The EU will continue to provide political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support for as long as necessary, according to a Brussels information note. So far, the EU and its Member States have allocated over EUR 138 billion for support. EU leaders will also discuss security and defence, including how the EU’s technological and industrial base in defence can be strengthened. At the same time, further measures will be discussed to make the defence industry more durable and competitive. Based on a presentation by the European Commission, EU leaders will also discuss the strategy for the European defence industry and the programme for the European defence industry. EU leaders to consider Middle East situation At their October 2023 meetings, EU leaders called for continuous, rapid, secure and seamless access to humanitarian aid and assistance to those in need. They also stressed the need to cooperate with partners in the region to avoid regional escalation. Finally, EU leaders will discuss EU enlargement policy, including the latest developments in Bosnia. Bosnia, Ukraine and Moldova. At their meeting in December 2023, EU leaders gave the green light to the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, as soon as the countries took the relevant measures set out in the Commission’s enlargement report of 8 November 2023. The leaders also expressed their readiness to begin accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina when necessary compliance with the accession criteria. To this end, they invited the Commission to submit a progress report to the Council by March 2024 at the latest.