Two-day summit of EU countries’ leaders starts in Brussels
Pravda Ukraine
A two-day summit of EU countries’ leaders commenced in Brussels on 21 March. The gathering will discuss arms supplies to Ukraine.
Source: European Pravda
Details: The press service explained that leaders of the EU member states will further discuss support for Ukraine, security and defence issues, as well as the situation in the Middle East, the EU enlargement, international relations, and matters of migration and agriculture at the meeting on 21-22 March.
As for security and defence, the agenda will cover, among other things, increasing Europe’s defence preparedness, ways to strengthen the technological and industrial base for the defence industry in the EU, and steps to boost the resilience and competitiveness of the European defence industry.
Based on the European Commission’s presentation, the leaders will discuss the European Defence Industrial Strategy and the European Defence Industry Programme.
In terms of enlargement, the meeting will discuss the progress of Ukraine, Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as all three countries have been granted candidate status and are awaiting the opening of negotiations.
Media reports suggest that at this meeting, EU leaders are unlikely to adopt a decision to use billions of euros in profits from frozen Russian financial assets to purchase weapons for Ukraine.
The European Commission has submitted a proposal to this effect. The proposal is to use the profits from assets held in Europe rather than the assets themselves. This could add to Ukraine’s treasury about €3 billion annually.
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