The European Council welcomed in its conclusions on Thursday 12 December the Commission’s announcement to provide humanitarian assistance and organise a donors’ conference following the recent deadly earthquake in Albania, which is likely to take place in Tirana (see EUROPE 12381/21) in mid-January.
Russia. The leaders also decided to extend the economic sanctions against Russia for a further six months, until 31 July 2020.
“We consider that the implementation of the Minsk Agreement remains an extremely important point”, announced the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
During dinner, the leaders were briefed by the German Chancellor and the French President on the outcome of the ‘Normandy’ Summit on 9 December (see EUROPE 12387/22).
“I think Russia needs motivation to implement everything that was promised in the first phase of the negotiations”, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on his arrival at the summit.
Turkey. As expected, the leaders “unequivocally” reaffirmed their solidarity with Greece and Cyprus regarding illegal Turkish drilling activities and the Turkey Libya Memorandum of Understanding on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions in the Mediterranean (see EUROPE 12387/33).
“It is important to continue the dialogue with this important country”, stressed Mr Michel, adding that it was necessary to maintain cooperation, particularly on migration, while trying to “have a strategic vision in the short and medium term”.
See the conclusions adopted: http://bit.ly/2RKSv2w (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with the editorial staff)