A gentle birth, without epidural or caesarean section. Forty-four leaders from the continent met in Prague on Thursday to give birth to the “European Political Community”, highlighting the growing isolation of Vladimir Putin, seven months after the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
“It’s a very old idea that may be becoming a reality,” said French President Emmanuel Macron, who launched the project in May. He recalled that the “CPE” was a gathering much larger than the European Union, with 17 countries invited in addition to the 27 members of the bloc.
Anxious to make the initiative sustainable, the Heads of State have agreed to meet in the spring of 2023 in Moldova. Spain and then the United Kingdom will be the next host countries, in order to respect an alternation between EU member countries and non-member countries.
“Building a new security structure”
During the final press conference, Emmanuel Macron welcomed “the unity of 44 European countries” who “very clearly expressed their condemnation of Russian aggression (…) and their support for Ukraine”. A few hours earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had intervened by videoconference, asking to “punish the Russian aggressor” and “to prevent his tanks from going to Warsaw or Prague”.
Despite this successful baptism, the new structure still raises many questions about its contours, its exact role and its concrete scope. Will the EPC be long-term or will it join the long list of short-lived projects on the continent, like the European Confederation proposed in 1989 by François Mitterrand?
Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy, welcomed the fact that 44 leaders are gathering “to see how to build a new security structure” in Europe. “It has to be done without Russia, not because we don’t want Russia to be part of Europe, but because Putin’s Russia has put itself outside the European community,” he said. he lamented.