The Heads of State or Government of the EU27 consider Russia to be “solely responsible” for the looming global food crisis and reiterated, on Friday 24 June, their willingness to redouble their efforts to help the most vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa, as part of a multilateral response.
The granting of EU candidate country status to Ukraine, described as historic, overshadowed comments on the discussion among EU leaders on how to get grain out of Ukraine. The conclusions we detailed in the draft were adopted as is (see EUROPE 12977/3).
“We have had the opportunity to confirm our determination to engage in addressing the issues arising from this war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine, in particular with regard to food security”, commented the European Council President, Charles Michel, on Thursday evening.
Spain said on Friday that it would “lead” a project to ship grain by rail from Ukraine. The project will start in July and will allow for the shipment and storage of approximately 10,000 tonnes in Spanish Mediterranean ports. “We will not remain inactive in the face of this serious food security crisis”, said the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. The Spanish project relies on the collaboration of the Polish, Luxembourg and French governments and on the involvement of companies.
Hundreds of millions of people are suffering from this crisis, it is “imperative” to succeed in freeing the Ukrainian grain, which is blocked. “We are asking Russia to unblock the ports and we support the United Nations in this process”, concluded Pedro Sánchez.
See the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/2bk (Original version in French by Aminata Niang and Lionel Changeur, with the editorial staff)