EU leaders take hard line on Russia, rebuking
Merkel and Macron
Poland and the Baltics lead effort to thwart
German-French initiative.
There was also a sense that Berlin and Paris had grown
annoyed at the mishandling of Russia relations by Brussels |
BY DAVID M.
HERSZENHORN AND JACOPO BARIGAZZI
June 24,
2021 10:52 pm
EU leaders
early Friday adopted a hardline stance toward Russia — but only after Poland
and the Baltic countries took their own hardline stance toward Germany and
France and torpedoed a proposal by the bloc’s biggest powers to seek a summit
with President Vladimir Putin.
The 27
heads of state and government adopted their tough conclusions on Russia at
around 2 a.m. following a protracted and, at times, heated debate. The final
result was remarkably humbling, if not utterly humiliating, for German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, who normally
exert the greatest sway in discussions around the European Council table.
Rather than
endorsing the language proposed by Germany and France that would have floated
the idea of “meetings at leaders level,” akin to the one held by U.S. President
Joe Biden with Putin in Geneva last week, the Council approved a statement
focused on setting expectations and demands for the Kremlin, which would be a
prerequisite for new diplomatic engagement. The Council also threatened new
economic sanctions should Moscow persist in “malign, illegal and disruptive
activity.”
“The
European Council expects the Russian leadership to demonstrate a more
constructive engagement and political commitment and stop actions against the
EU and its Member States, as well as against third countries,” the leaders
wrote in their conclusions.
The Council
demanded that Russia “fully assume its responsibility” in ensuring the
implementation of the Minsk 2 peace agreement to end the conflict in eastern
Ukraine, and the leaders reiterated their support for pursuing “accountability”
in the destruction of a Malaysian passenger jet that was shot down in 2014 with
a Russian missile.
Rather than
floating the idea of a high-level summit meeting, the leaders called on the
European Commission and the EU’s foreign policy chief to develop “concrete
options including conditionalities and leverages” for further cooperation with
Russia in various policy areas. “The European Council will explore formats and
conditionalities of dialogue with Russia,” they wrote.
Merkel,
speaking to reporters at the end of the long night, bluntly conceded defeat,
though she also made an implicit accusation that other leaders were not brave
enough to back the summit proposal. “I personally would have wished for a more
courageous step but this is also OK and we’ll keep working,” she said.
While the
result marked a stunning victory over Germany and France by countries along the
Russian border, the whole situation was a rather embarrassing episode for the
EU, as deep divisions over relations with Russia burst into public view.
The summit,
unexpectedly, turned out to be one of the most divisive gatherings of EU
leaders in recent memory, as the Russia debate and another heated discussion,
over Hungary’s controversial anti-gay legislation, exposed deep rifts, roughly
drawn between eastern and western countries.
Speaking to
journalists after the meeting, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo denied
the discussion was West vs. East, noting that some Baltics and Eastern European
countries supported the criticism of Budapest. And he added that now, “it’s the
first time there was really such an open almost confrontation between the large
majority of the room with one member state.”
However, in
a sign of how fractious the debate over Russia had been, Council President
Charles Michel canceled a planned late-night news conference with European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Merkel-Macron
mystery
Merkel and
Macron offered little explanation or justification for pushing the softer
approach toward Putin just a day before the Council meeting, and their surprise
effort clearly infuriated other leaders, who said there was no reason to ease
any diplomatic pressure on Moscow.
A sense of
competition with Biden seemed to be one factor, with Merkel insisting in a
speech to the Bundestag on Thursday morning that if the U.S. president could
hold a meeting with Putin, there was no reason EU leaders shouldn’t do the
same.
Lithuanian
President Gitanas Nausėda described the leaders’ discussion as “tough” and said
he was not persuaded that the EU should change its tough stance toward Moscow.
“It’s too
early because we so far don’t see any radical changes of behavior,” Nausėda
said, adding that meeting Putin without preconditions “would be a very wrong
signal.”
Several
critics of the German-French plan said they did not understand why Merkel and
Macron had rushed ahead rather than waiting to see if Putin responds positively
to Biden’s suggestions of cooperation in some policy areas.
The
reference in the leaders’ conclusions to “third countries” and another
reference to “ensuring coordination with partners” seemed to be nods to the
U.S. and Biden’s efforts to shift the dynamic between Russia and the West.
In response
to a query from POLITICO, a U.S. State Department spokesperson on Thursday
night suggested it would make sense to give Putin some time to respond to areas
of potential cooperation that Biden identified during their conversation in
Geneva.
“The United
States has been clear that we and our partners must be prepared to continue to
impose costs when Russia’s behavior crosses boundaries that are respected by
responsible nations. Our goal is to have a relationship with Russia that is
predictable and stable,” the spokesperson said. “There was a lot of ground
covered at the June 16 Summit with Putin, but it is going to take some time to
see if the areas of potential cooperation actually produce results.”
The debate
among EU leaders was difficult and at time impassioned.
But the EU
countries located closest to Russia — such as Poland, Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania — ultimately succeeded not just in resisting heavy pressure from the
EU’s biggest and wealthiest powers but also in pushing their own stronger
language setting demands for Moscow.
In a sign
of the depth of their anger, they publicly lambasted the German-French plan on
their way into the summit.
“Starting
any direct dialogue on the highest political level is only possible in a
situation where there’s an actual de-escalation and actual withdrawal from the
aggressive politics,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.
“It’s an
unequivocal situation for us. When we see hybrid attacks on our neighbors, on
us,” he continued, “it’s difficult to start a dialogue on the highest level.”
However,
the disagreements were far deeper than a simple yes-no debate. Dutch Prime
Minister Mark Rutte took a middle tack, saying it was fine for the EU
institutions to pursue a meeting with Putin but he himself wanted nothing to do
with it.
“I don’t mind
a meeting with Vladimir Putin by the two presidents,” Rutte said, referring to
Council chief Michel and Commission President von der Leyen. But Rutte added,
“I will not participate in a meeting with Vladimir Putin myself.”
Meanwhile,
countries that have long favored a conciliatory approach toward the Kremlin,
including some with historic economic ties and a soft spot for Russian
oligarchs and their money, cheered the German-French proposal.
“I’m very
happy that there’s finally movement in the direction of a dialogue with
Russia,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told reporters.
This
article has been updated.
Hans von
der Burchard, Rym Momtaz, Marina Adami, Lili Bayer, Zosia Wanat and Andrew Gray
contributed reporting.
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