The leaders of the 27 EU member states and 17 others met in Prague on October 6 to inaugurate the European Political Community (EPC). In a series of statements, the wider Europe took a firm stance against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and brutal violation of the Helsinki Principles. While the heads of state and government did not issue a formal joint communiqué or founding statement, the meeting itself was the message. Countries large and small, from Iceland to the Southern Caucasus, held free and equal discussions about security, stability and Europe’s prosperity. It now falls to the EU to follow up the successful launch in Prague and make the EPC a relevant fixture for Europe as a whole.
Even those who thought that the proposal laid out by French President Emmanuel Macron on 9 May 2022 might not be a good idea had to admit that the initiative generated significant interest among the 17 non-EU states. Any suggestion that this should be yet another EU-centric bureaucracy is off the table. Fears that the EPC would be conceived as a substitute for or alternative to EU membership have been dispelled for the …read more
Source:: German Institute for International and Security Affairs