“It is pretty clear that Russia will not offer peace on its own without pressure and strong action. This means that European countries, together with the United States, must increase pressure on Russia to ensure a just and lasting peace. Strengthening sanctions is an effective tool for this,” Michal said. “We also need to move forward with the accession negotiations of Ukraine and Moldova,” added the Prime Minister.
In addition to supporting Ukraine, the leaders will also discuss European security and defence capacity building, EU competitiveness, migration, internal security, and the situation in the Middle East.
“Yesterday, we agreed with NATO leaders on a new defence spending target of 5%. It is now important that countries reach this point,” the Prime Minister stressed. “To this end, all defence initiatives of the European Union that have already been planned must be implemented and it must be ensured that the money quickly reaches the capability goals of NATO,” he said.
Ahead of the Council, the Estonian prime minister, together with his Latvian and Polish counterparts, and the president of Lithuania, sent a joint open letter to the EU leaders, pointing out that securing the eastern border of Europe – including the establishment of a Baltic defence zone – is in the common interest of Europe and therefore needs more EU support and funding.
In addition to the EU heads of state and government, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has also been invited to the meeting.
