The informal EU summit is to be held in Prague on October 6 and 7, Fiala and Michel announced
Prague – The informal summit of the European Union will take place in Prague on October 6 and 7, the Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) and the President of the European Council Charles Michel announced today. They said this after a meeting on the eve of the six-month Czech presidency of the EU. The topics of the summit are to be broader cooperation of the European Union with non-member states, aid to Ukraine is facing Russian aggression and its consequences for rising inflation and energy prices.
“What will definitely take place in Prague on October 6 and 7 is an informal European Council,” said Fiala. Ideally, a meeting between EU leaders and representatives of non-EU countries with a common interest in ensuring the stability and security of the European continent should take place in parallel with Michel’s summit. “We do not want a new institution,” Michel said. According to them, the Balkan states or the Eastern European countries of Hundred should participate.
According to Fiala, the Czechia, together with France, should prepare the basis for this platform for meeting representatives of all democratic-minded states in Europe, the aim of which would be, among other things, to manage the effects of Russian aggression on the economies of the states.
According to Fialy, the situation of EU energy citizens is highly accessible. “We need to find a common European solution and, as the EU, we will need to strengthen relations with other partners to deal with this situation,” the prime minister added.
The concept of a wider Europe proposed by France is intended to be open in particular to countries benefiting from EU membership and offers them opportunities for closer cooperation. However, it should not be a substitute for the admission process itself.
Fiala said in mid-June, after meeting with European Parliament President Robert Metsola, that the summit could be about Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. He wished that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could attend the meeting. “We must do everything in our power to help Ukraine in its state struggle, to help it defend itself against Russian aggression, and to have a plan in place for the reconstruction of Ukraine,” said Fiala.
Video: TK Fiala and Michela
30.06.2022, 21:23, author: Hynek Beran, source: A
For the second half of the year, the European Council has its own calendar two summits are scheduled for 20 and 21 October and for 15 and 16 December. At the last summit last week, the people of the EU countries approved the candidacy of Ukraine and Moldova for the EU.
Michel believes that the Czech Presidency of the EU will be successful and will meet the challenges that are reflected in his priorities. Fiala said that his government would be stable and that he would not repeat the situation of 2009, when during the first Czech presidency of the EU the then opposition overthrew the government of Mirek Topolánek (ODS). “I think we should not scare our European partners that the government will fall again during the Czech presidency,” he said. He pointed out that we also face problems in governments in other European countries. But he sees strength in the ability to reach a unified position and a common solution.
Preparations for the EU presidency culminate in Brussels, and the surroundings of the institutions are decorated with Czech motifs
The day before the official opening of the Czech Presidency of the European Union, preparations for political and cultural events ended in Brussels. Today, the surroundings of the headquarters of the EU institutions were decorated with artistically rendered banners with colors from the Czech and European flags and photographs of interesting places in the Czech Republic. The Czech diplomatic missions to the EU have received their last reinforcements, and according to Ambassador Edita Hrdá, it is time to prepare for more than two years to prepare and stand at the center of EU affairs.
“Now there is something like nervousness before the start, like in a big race. So I’m looking forward to it all starting,” an experienced diplomat told ČTK, who will lead a team of more than two hundred members of the Permanent Representation, which has almost doubled compared to normal traffic. It is up to Czech diplomats and experts to prepare and negotiate proposals for new EU standards or further joint action against Russia and assistance to Ukraine.
The Czechia is taking over the EU leadership from France. Although the presidency will not formally begin until midnight on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron has already symbolically handed over the role of Prime Minister to Petr Fial today on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid. “We still have a lot of work to do,” said Macron, who wished the Czech government a lot of courage. Fiala praised the French performance in leading the EU, which fundamentally reflected the beginning of the war in Ukraine. At the same time, Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský received a symbolic relay pin in European colors from his French colleague Catherine Colonna in Madrid. France is passing on to the Czech Republic “a stronger, more sovereign and, I think, more united”, the ministry said.
While the main Ukrainian theme of the presidency will not change even after the rotation of the countries, the difference will be, for example, in the staffing or the number of accompanying events. The budget of the Czech presidency will be about a third lower than in 2009, when the Czechia led the union for the first time. Also due to savings, Prague withdrew from the original intention to buy a new building for its representation in Brussels and leased part of the second office building next to the permanent seat in addition to the permanent seat in the neighborhood of the European Parliament. Despite the fact that the Czechia has less than half of the five hundred diplomats that France had at the presidency at its disposal in Brussels, with the Czech half-year at the head of twenty-seven countries, there are high expectations in the metropolis of EU institutions.
“Of course they ask about Ukraine. They want to know how we will behave in various situations. Often the Czech masters improvise, so we are ready to react to unexpected events,” Proudly described the expectations of diplomats from other countries.
However, the Czechia wants to be visible in Brussels in the next six months in a way other than the direction of EU policy. The official opening events will not be run on Saturday after the legendary athlete Emil Zátopek, but today the streets of Brussels and the open spaces have been filled with Czech motifs.
An exhibition of photographs presenting the architectural monuments and interesting places of the Czech Republic began right in front of the European Commission. According to the vice-chairwoman of the commission, Věra Jourová, the organization of exhibitions of sixty photos was an effort to get more awareness of the Czech Republic to Brussels.
“This is also the task of the Czech Presidency – to get more of the Czech Republic to Europe, in its leadership and decision-making,” Jourová told ČTK.
In the immediate vicinity of the commission, in a rainy Brussels afternoon, banners made by Czech and European artists came up over several streets, inventing new variations on the traditional Czech and European symbol. “One of those battalions did not turn out well in the press, so he arrived especially a day later, which worried us,” said Jitka Pánek Jurková, director of the Czech Center Brussels, who supervised the installation of works of art on cables stretched high above the surrounding streets. Union institutions. The installation will fly over the heads of Brussels residents and visitors until the end of July.