IRIA News

Leaders of 47 European countries as well as high-ranking representatives from several European multinational organizations came together in the Spanish city of Granada on October 5, 2023, to participate in the third grand summit of the European Political Community (EPC).

Heads of state from all EU member countries as well as the leaders from Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, and United Kingdom met at a grand summit of the European Political Community in Granada.

Leaders of Russia and Belarus have been deliberately excluded from the all-European organization while leaders of the two prominent countries, Turkey and Azerbaijan did not attend the summit in person.

Summit remained clouded by the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict

Although the prominent actors of the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict did not attend the summit, the issue remained a topic of discussion throughout the meeting. European leaders continued their quest to calm tensions in the Caucasus, where Azerbaijani forces have captured Nagorno-Karabakh from ethnic Armenian rebels.

Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan pulled out of the gathering at the last minute, robbing the summit of an opportunity to convene a meeting between Armenia and Azerbaijan leaders to sort out the ongoing crises over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

An Azerbaijani official said Aliyev would not attend because of “pro-Armenian statements by French officials” and Paris’s plans to deliver military equipment to Yerevan. The official said Aliyev’s decision was also influenced by “accusations made yesterday by EU Council President Charles Michel.”

Michel, who has been put forward as a mediator between Baku and Yerevan in several meetings has gained criticism for his lopsided views on the ongoing conflict.

Turkey’s Erdogan, who is also a key player in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and a close ally of Aliyev, pulled out of the summit citing a cold.

“It is a shame that Azerbaijan is not here and that Turkey, the main country that supports Azerbaijan, is not here,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said while deploring the fact a meeting will not be held. 

Despite Baku’s absence from the summit, the meeting between European leaders and the Armenian Prime Minister went on as scheduled. French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Charles Michel, and German Chancellor Olaf Sholdz sat down with the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to discuss the ongoing state of affairs between Baku and Yerevan.

The President of the European Council and leaders of Germany and France underlined support for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Armenia and expressed their support for the strengthening of EU-Armenia relations. They also reaffirmed their commitment to all efforts directed toward the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In a statement released at the end of the meeting, European leaders called on the leaders of the two countries to release all the detainees and continue the dialogue. The statement also indicated the European Union would host talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan this month to reduce tensions between the arch-foes.

“The goal is to have this meeting by the end of October and we will fix the date together, with (Armenian) Prime Minister (Nikol) Pashinyan and (Azerbaijani) President (Ilham) Aliyev,” Michel said on the sidelines of a summit.

Russia will attack others if Ukraine loses: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an emotional speech during the EPC summit, urging the European leaders to pledge more in support of Kyiv. He said that he is confident of continued U.S. and European financial aid despite “political storms” in Washington and elsewhere.

“Until there is a fully effective air defense system, children cannot attend school,” he told the gathering in the city of Granada. “We must not allow Putin to destabilize any other parts of the world and our partners in order to ruin Europe’s power,” Zelenskyy said.

The Granada gathering gave a chance to prominent pro-Ukraine European leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a chance to re-state their commitment to Kyiv after political turbulence in both the U.S. and Europe raised concerns about continued support.

French president said Ukraine could continue to count on support from Europe while Germany’s leader said that Berlin would provide additional Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming winter. Other European leaders also pledged to continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion.

Zelenskyy said he had discussed with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the summit host, a new military aid package, energy assistance, and how to keep open a corridor in the Black Sea for Ukrainian grain exports.

Tension in Balkans

Although Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani flatly refused to meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at a summit, the ongoing tensions between the two Balkan states came under discussion during the meeting.

Osmani urged the European Political Community to impose sanctions on Serbia following its intervention in Kosovo’s northern Serb-majority province which has led to constant unrest in the area. “There’s no reason to meet before sanctions are adopted towards Vucic. Sanctions first, and then we can talk about the rest,” Osmani told reporters.

Migration

Migration was not a primary issue to be discussed at the summit, which was called to primarily address the security issues of European states, but just like it does at almost every gathering of the European leaders, it quickly found its way high up on the agenda. Leaders from Albania, Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the European Commission chief took part in a meeting held on the sidelines of the summit that focused on dealing with migration-related issues in Europe.

An eight-point document was released at the end of the meeting which aims to finalize an agreement between the EPC countries for building a coalition of the willing countries that focuses on resolving financial and logistic issues related to migration in Europe.

Today we take stock of our strategic agenda:

We will focus on:

• Defence: @EU_Commission will soon table a Defence industry strategy

• Energy and resilient supply chains

• How to ensure a successful enlargement

• Migration: progressing on the Pact and operational work pic.twitter.com/PSGgQD4ayM

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 6, 2023

“I consider that the EPC is precisely a relevant space to fight against migration. Firstly, because there are several countries of origin among the Western Balkans cooperation makes it possible to significantly reduce irregular immigration,” French President Emmanuel Macron said during the meeting.

“We want to have a much more coordinated approach with countries of origin and countries of transit. This is the condition for being effective because we clearly see that we have policies that are desynchronized or divergent” weakening efforts to tackle the issue, he added.  

The eight-point roadmap includes pledges to “take robust action” in order to tackle “migrant smuggling along the routes and at external borders” in cooperation with partner countries through joint action.