At the 3rd meeting of the European Political Community on Thursday 5 October in Granada, the leaders of the States represented addressed the migration challenges facing the European continent, on the eve of the informal meeting of Heads of State or Government, who are also expected to discuss the issue.
On his arrival at the Palacio de Congresos in Granada, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, insisted that “the time had come for Europe to adopt decisive agreements to deal with the major migratory flows that are weighing on the continent and on certain countries in particular”.
He also noted the progress made by the ambassadors of the EU Member States, who reached an agreement on Wednesday 4 October on the management of crises and situations of force majeure with regard to migration (see EUROPE 13252/7).
However, some executives reiterated their concerns at the meeting. This was the case of the Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, who called for “greater cooperation at EU level and the securing of external borders, as well as the possibility of greater control of regular entries into the continent”.
Alongside the meeting, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, said that he had held talks with the President of the European Commission and the leaders of Italy, the Netherlands, Albania and the United Kingdom, at the initiative of the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on the fight against illegal migration. According to Mr Macron, work is underway on a five-point document aimed at preventing illegal migration and harmonising rules for host and transit countries. He invited the other members of the EPC to join this initiative.
Finally, the French President was keen to reaffirm the relevance of the EPC in continuing this work of pooling information on the fight against traffickers and harmonising rules. “We want to have a much more coordinated approach with host and transit countries, because when we act in a disorganised and divergent way [...] we lose effectiveness”, he added.
These discussions will also continue at the 4th meeting of the EPC, to be held in the UK in the spring.
Apart from this breakthrough, few concrete results were achieved at this 3rd meeting of the European Political Community. Initially, meetings between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders and between the Serbian and Kosovar leaders had been hoped for, but they did not take place.
“This political community platform can and must play an important role in defusing conflicts and contributing to their resolution, particularly in the South Caucasus and between Kosovo and Serbia”, declared the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on his arrival at the Palacio de Congresos.
Azerbaijan - Armenia
However, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, did not attend, a fact which the EU High Representative, Josep Borrell was critical of. “It’s a shame that Azerbaijan is not present, but also Turkey, which is the main country supporting Azerbaijan. So it doesn’t give us the opportunity to talk here about something so serious that more than 100,000 people have had to leave their homes as a result of military force”, he said regretfully.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, also added that this meeting between the leaders of the European Political Community was an opportunity to get everyone around the table. “We always regret that a country is not present”, she maintained.
Although a five-party meeting had initially been announced - before Azerbaijan took control of Nagorno-Karabakh and then Mr Aliyev’s participation was cancelled - Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the President of the European Council held talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (see separate news item).
Despite Mr Aliyev’s absence, Charles Michel remained optimistic. “We should never give up. Diplomatic efforts are necessary even in the face of difficulties or setbacks”. He has announced a meeting in Brussels between the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan before the end of October (see other news). Mr Michel pointed out that his mediation efforts had led to progress. “We have made a lot of progress in mediation. We have achieved concrete and tangible results”, he stressed.
Serbia - Kosovo
Despite the presence of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani around the European Political Community table, no meeting took place between the two leaders.
At the previous EPC in Chisinau, they met briefly, but with the attack on a Kosovar policeman on 24 September, the tone hardened. On her arrival at the EPC, Ms Osmani warned that she would not meet Mr Vučić. “What for?” she said.
She considered that there was no ‘business as usual’ after the events of 24 September, calling for sanctions against Mr Vučić. “First sanctions, then we can discuss meetings”, she explained.
In a possible sign of tensions between the countries organising the EPC: the final press conference was cancelled. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys and Camille-Cerise Gessant)