IRIA News

Leaders from 47 European countries gathered in Chisinau, Moldova, to participate in the second summit of the European Political Community on June 1, 2023. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Armenia’s ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan, and rising tensions in the Balkans remained the focus of the meeting.

The informal concept of the European Political Community (EPC) was established one year ago when French President Emmanuel Macron proposed the idea. In addition to the 27 EU member states, EPC includes 17 other European countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iceland, Moldova, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. The only two European nations not invited to join the EPC are Russia and its neighboring ally Belarus.

“Russia is not here,” the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said during the summit, “not because we don’t want to invite Russia, but because Putin’s Russia has excluded itself from this community by launching this war against Ukraine.”

The host of the summit, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, said there was something not right about being in such peaceful surroundings while a war raged just kilometers away. She said it was her goal to reestablish a peaceful atmosphere across Europe as soon as possible.

During her speech at the summit, Sandu thanked Zelenskyy for not only defending his country but hers and the rest of Europe, as well. “Ukraine keeps Moldova safe today, and we’re very, very grateful for that,” she said.

Being the second-poorest country in Europe, after Ukraine, Moldova does not have any significant army and is bound to military neutrality by its constitution, exposing the former Soviet Union state’s vulnerable situation.

Ukraine pushes for EU and NATO membership

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to neighboring Moldova to participate in the gathering of the European leaders. Dressed in his signature military-inspired outfit, the Ukrainian President continued his unrelenting quest for more weapons, political support, and security backing. Zelenskyy pushed the NATO member states to accept Ukraine’s application to be a part of the largest military alliance. He said that during a NATO summit scheduled for July, a “clear invitation to the membership for Ukraine is needed, and the security guarantees on the way to NATO membership are needed.” He added that Ukraine needs “a clear positive decision” on its accession to the EU by the fall of this year.

NATO leaders are set to meet in Lithuania in July this year, while the European Union’s annual summit is scheduled in October. Zelenskyy wants to receive a full commitment from the NATO and EU leaders on his country’s membership in the upcoming summits.

“Ukraine has made impressive progress on its EU path. We are by your side. We will work hard together to reach this goal,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised during the ECP summit. French President Emmanuel Macron said that NATO’s upcoming summit would provide “new credible guarantees and a clear perspective to Ukraine.”

Talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan

The presence of the leaders from the two clashing states, Armenia and Azerbaijan, was utilized by the leaders of the European Political Community to conduct an informal meeting mediated by France, Germany, and the head of the European Council.

“We had the occasion to address all the topics we had discussed in Brussels in May, including connectivity, border delimitation, and the peace treaty,” said European Council President Charles Michel following the meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Glad to host @presidentaz to discuss our deepening 🇲🇩-🇦🇿 partnership. We are glad to see active cooperation in the economic, agricultural & energy sectors. Looking forward to further strengthening our ties. pic.twitter.com/xd712s2awJ

— Maia Sandu (@sandumaiamd) May 31, 2023

He said that the meeting has been a good setup for the upcoming negotiation talks which will take place in Brussels on July 21, 2023. Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan also met in Moscow two weeks ago in a meeting hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting ended without substantial progress to find sustainable peace between the two former Soviet Union states.

Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo

Being members of the ECP, leaders of Serbia and Kosovo attended the summit on Moldova, however, Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo’s Vjosa Osmani did not acknowledge each other even as they stood just meters apart on the red carpet.

“We all understand that the real threat in fact is coming from Serbia’s denial of Kosovo’s existence as a sovereign state,” Osmani said. Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, however, Belgrade did not acknowledge the independence of its former province.

The recent wave of unrest in Kosovo’s ethnic Serb-majority northern region resulted in several days of violent protests. Osmani has accused Serbia’s Vucic of backing criminal gangs in northern Kosovo, which she said were ultimately responsible for clashes that wounded 30 NATO peacekeeping troops and 52 local Serb protesters. Serbia has rejected that accusation.