Poland will take over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union on January 1, 2025. The board will serve a six-month term until June, with the motto “Security, Europe!”. All the priorities that Warsaw wants to inscribe into its mission revolve around the concept of security in every sense of the word: external, internal, information, economic, energy, food and health security. are.
Poland’s prime minister and former European Council president Donald Tusk said Warsaw would be in charge of the EU’s 27 member states at a difficult time. In this connection, he particularly recalled the developments in Ukraine, the Middle East crisis and Georgia.
Last week, when presenting the priorities of the Presidency, Agnieszka Bartl, head of the Permanent Mission of Poland to the EU, explained that the Presidency also intends to focus on strengthening the competitiveness of European companies, particularly in areas such as energy prices. . About energy security and red tape reduction.
Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said earlier this month that the EU had made three mistakes on the economy and energy: it had become dependent on Russia, abandoned nuclear energy, and given up energy to itself. gave. It will be overtaken by China in the field of green technology.
Mr. Birol pointed to the Clean Industrial Strategy that the European Commission is preparing, which he said is expected to be published within the first 100 days of the new term. This means that discussions about it will take place during the term of the Polish president.
Regarding enlargement, Ambassador Bartol said that the Presidency intends to take a balanced approach, especially towards the Western Balkans, adding that this is a geostrategic priority for Poland.
President Tusk’s Ukraine peace negotiations underway
Warsaw is preparing to assume the EU presidency and is discussing the situation in Ukraine with various foreign officials.
Prime Minister Tusk spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday (December 12) about the possibility of stationing foreign troops in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, but Warsaw is not currently “planning any such action.” He said no. Tusk said last week that Ukraine peace talks could begin “this winter.” “We (the EU) Presidency will be especially jointly responsible for what the political situation will be, and probably how the situation will be during the (peace) negotiations,” he said.
Poland is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a 32-nation military alliance, and is a strong supporter of neighboring Ukraine, serving as an important logistics hub for Western military aid to Kiev. .
“We need peace in Ukraine in order to carry out peacekeeping operations,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Karas said recently. “I haven’t,” he added. “Before that, we have nothing to say. And, of course, it is up to each European country to decide in what process it will send troops or not,” the former Estonian prime minister added.
Poland is expected to play an important role in the events surrounding Ukraine. February will mark three years since the start of Russia’s invasion, and the plan is to adopt the 16th sanctions package at this time, which will be extremely harsh for Russia and will be a huge blow to Russia.
Individual EU member states are also trying to support Ukraine, but not without domestic political struggles.
Bulgaria’s caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Grafchev has asked parliament to explicitly mandate the government to sign a security cooperation agreement with Ukraine, which was approved by the Bulgarian Council of Ministers on October 4.
However, the reaction in parliament on December 18 was mostly negative, with some parties opposing the process of seeking a mandate and others calling for Bulgaria to share arms and resources with Ukraine. opposed.
Grafchev said on December 18 that he would only sign a security cooperation agreement with Ukraine if approved by parliament.
Is Ukraine’s accession to the EU imminent?
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, EU enlargement efforts gained momentum, and Ukraine has experienced rapid development since then.
Under Belgium’s EU Presidency in the first half of 2024, the EU has agreed to formally start accession negotiations with Ukraine.
The so-called screening then began, a process between the European Commission and the candidate country in question, in which national laws were evaluated and areas of convergence with EU law, so-called acquis, were identified.
Screening is a necessary prerequisite for opening a so-called cluster, which always contains several accession chapters. The review could be completed during Poland’s presidential term.
The Polish EU Presidency logo is a combination of the letters “E” and “U” on the Polish flag, symbolizing Poland’s membership in the EU, its 20-year membership, its involvement in European affairs, and the new direction of the EU. It represents the ambition to define the Especially policies regarding continental security.
The logo was designed by Jerzy Janiszewski, a famous Polish artist who also created the logo for the trade union movement Solidarność (Solidarity), which was founded in 1980.
The Council of the European Union, also known as the Council, is one of the main decision-making bodies of the European Union. It represents the governments of the 27 EU member states and is made up of ministers from each country, with different compositions depending on the policy area being discussed.
The Council of the European Union is not to be confused with the European Council, which brings together the EU’s heads of state and government to set political direction and priorities for the EU as a whole.
Every six months, EU member states take control of the Council and lead policy discussions. In 2024, Belgium and Hungary will hold the Council Presidency, while in 2025 Poland and Denmark will hold the Presidency.
Poland’s presidential inauguration ceremony is scheduled to take place on January 3, 2025, with a concert in Warsaw. Ministerial meetings within the Council will also be held in the capital, and 23 informal meetings will be held at the Warsaw Citadel. The second venue for the official meeting will be the National Stadium.
This article will be published twice a week. Content is based on news from agencies participating in enr (AFP, ANSA, BTA, CTK, dpa, PAP).
All rights reserved © Copyright ANSA
