On Friday, the Czech Republic will take over the bi-annual presidency of the European Union (EU) and replace France to lead the bloc’s 27 member states amid the turmoil of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron symbolically handed over the presidency to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid.
At a short ceremony at the end of the Atlantic Alliance summit, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna gave a baton in EU colors to her Czech counterpart, Jan Lipavsky, thinking that Europe was leaving the French presidency “stronger, more sovereign and, in my opinion, stronger, more sovereign”. , more unified”.
Analysts predict a busy presidency for the Czech Republic, which will be handed over to Sweden six months later.
The Czech Republic, a country of 10.5 million that joined the European bloc in 2004, has pledged to focus on helping Ukraine and post-war.
During his presidency, the country seeks to contain the refugee crisis and begin the rebuilding of Ukraine.
It also aims to strengthen energy security, defense capabilities and European democratic institutions.
“All the priorities are very well set and if we can get at least a few on the table, we can start conversations with our partners and we can at least make a few decisions, I can say we’re not wasting any time,” Havlicek said. Said.
The Czech Republic accepted about 400,000 Ukrainian refugees and sent substantial financial and military aid to Ukraine, which was occupied by Russian troops on February 24.
Prague also strongly supports sanctions against Russia. “We are a reliable partner,” said Havlicek.
Right-wing Prime Minister Petr Fiala, a former political analyst who has written a 992-page book on the EU, said recently that he would try to hold a summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Western Balkan countries, whose EU bid is stalemate, supported by Prague and other Eastern European countries, is also expected to join.
The summit will propose a program for Ukraine similar to the Marshall plan, but only when the war is over.
Czech citizens tend to be Eurosceptic. A survey conducted by the STEM agency in March revealed that only 36% of them were satisfied with the EU.
Fiala’s government is less European skeptical than its predecessors, but analysts question its ability to distance itself from Hungary and Poland, which have close ties in the Visegrad group, which includes Slovakia.
Both Hungary and Poland are in Brussels’ center of attention due to their positions on the rule of law.
source: Noticias
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