Bloomberg: EU summit underwhelms despite Sanchez’s hopes

07 October 2023 23:02

The big European summit was supposed to be a crowning moment for Spain’s Pedro Sanchez, who shut down the city’s magnificent Alhambra palace to host a glitzy dinner for leaders.

It almost fell apart for the acting Spanish prime minister, who’s eager for a boost in international stature as he negotiates to form a new coalition, Bloomberg reports.

First, the cancellations hit — from Türkiye, as well as Azerbaijan, despite plans to stage a crisis meeting with Armenia over events in Garabagh.

"Today shows the importance of dialogue. When do we realize this? When someone withdraws," Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob told reporters before the third European Political Community meeting. "The honeymoon phase is over."

Some of those who did show up ruffled feathers. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak annoyed the hosts by organizing his own meeting on migration with Italy’s right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni, France’s Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The gathering — which Spanish officials had resisted because they thought it was unnecessary one day after the EU clinched an elusive deal on asylum policy — helped prompt the cancellation of the day’s big news conference. And the thorny issue of migration overshadowed the rest of the EU summitry.

The main saving grace for Sanchez was the presence of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who only arrived after the Spanish leader begged him to come and dangled fresh weapons deliveries, we’re told.

The UK will host the next European Political Community summit in the spring of 2024 to discuss immigration — followed by one in Hungary, which has been slamming Europe to avoid implementing a migration deal.

Caliber.Az

Views: 115

Liked the story? Share it on social media!