The leaders of the EU countries will meet on Ukraine and the problem of immigration

Ukraine is one of the prominent topics at the EU Leaders’ Summit on June 29-30. Especially the situation after the rebellion of the Wagner mercenary group against the Russian administration and the financial and military support to be given to Ukraine are among the topics on the leaders’ table.

The European Peace Fund, used by the EU for military support to Ukraine, was increased by €3.5bn to €12bn as it was almost exhausted.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will also attend part of the leaders’ meeting tomorrow, and cooperation between NATO and the EU in support of Ukraine will be discussed.

The summit will also assess the use of Russia’s frozen assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine. EU officials say that the EU is proceeding cautiously, as the use of frozen assets can be as much a glitch as there are many consequences, and that many options on the table will be evaluated.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is also scheduled to attend the EU leaders’ meeting via video conference.

THE PROGRESS OF MIGRATION IS DIFFICULT

As regards the issue of immigration, which has been one of the issues that has been a challenge for the EU in recent years, it is expected that an assessment of the situation will be made after the disaster that occurred two weeks ago off the coast of Greece and that caused the death of hundreds of immigrants with the sinking of a ship.

Issues such as the distribution of immigrants arriving in EU countries such as Italy and Greece, especially in the south, to other member countries and their financing are expected to form an important part of the discussions.

While some countries remain reluctant to accept immigrants, a group of EU countries are said to want the EU Commission to find “innovative solutions”. These countries, including Austria and Denmark, are reportedly looking for new solutions to controversial issues such as the resettlement of immigrants.

It seems unlikely that there will be an outcome from this migration summit, which has been on the agenda of every EU summit this year.

CYPRUS AND WESTERN BALKANS

Some of the other issues that will come to the fore at the EU Leaders Summit are expected to be China-EU relations, the Western Balkans, Kosovo and Cyprus.

The leaders are expected to send a strong message to the parties to de-escalate the tension in Kosovo. It is also hoped that the Western Balkan countries will be encouraged to move forward in their EU processes.

The EU officials, who provided briefings on the summit’s issues, argue that new momentum has emerged for the resumption of negotiations on Cyprus.

Expressing the EU’s desire to help start and progress the negotiations, EU officials say the process should continue under the leadership of the United Nations, but the EU can help with this too.

It should be noted that the EU leaders will evaluate a timetable for the resumption of negotiations. (AA)