Borrell: In Prague we are creating a new order without Russia

The leaders of the 44 European countries will on October 6 send a clear signal from Prague about Russia's isolation and try to create a new order without it, the European Union's top representative for foreign and security policy said. Josep Borrell.

"At the meeting, efforts will be made to create a new order without Russia. This does not mean that we want to exclude Russia forever, but this Russia, Putin's Russia, has no place," Borell told reporters in Prague.

"This is the signal we want to send, that unfortunately we cannot build a security order with Russia. Russia is isolated... You have no place, everyone else is here," Borell stressed.

The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, which chairs the European Union, Petr Fiala heralded the first summit of Europe's 44 heads of state - all but Russia and Belarus - as an opportunity for more informal discussions on issues of security and peace, the economic crisis and energy, as well as environmental protection goals.

"The Czech Presidency of the EU is facing major challenges and crises that Europe is going through and which will be the subject of the first discussions of the European political community, be it peace and security, energy, the environment, the economy," he said. the host of the summit, Fiala.

"The goal is not to reach written conclusions, any written conclusions. The goal is to discuss and create some kind of framework agreement regarding the further actions of European countries in those areas," he added.

Leaders from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Switzerland will meet in the historic Prague Castle on October 6.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will attend in person, while President Volodymyr Zelensky will join via video link.

The group meets for a plenary session at 1:15 p.m., followed by a family photo. Afterwards, participants will hold several smaller roundtables on security, energy, climate and the economy.

Më pas pritet që pjesëmarrësit të paraqesin konkluzat gjatë një darke pune.

Republika Çeke, si mikpritëse e samitit, fillimisht ishte skeptike ndaj nismës së re politike të presidentit francez. Madje në Pragë e quajtën hapur si “kurthi i Macronit”, pasi këshilltari i kryeministrit çek Tomas Pojar, nga frika se vendet e BE-së që nuk janë të interesuara për anëtarë të rinj - përfshirë Serbinë dhe vendet e tjera të Ballkanit Perëndimor – mund të përdorin këtë format për të vonuar zgjerimin e BE-së.

“Vendet skeptike si Franca mund t’u ofrojnë vendeve kandidate Bashkësisë Politike Evropian (KPE) dhe ta bëjnë atë një dhomë pritjeje të përjetshme për hyrje në BE-në”, tha eurodeputeti Aleksandar Vondra, ish-ministër i Mbrojtjes në qeveritë e Partisë Demokratike Qytetare.

The European Political Community will not be a substitute for the process of enlargement and membership in the EU, primarily of the Western Balkans, it was also said by Czech officials on the eve of the summit, for whom, regardless of the side of the political spectrum, the enlargement for this the region is a constant foreign policy priority.

"The KPE is nothing but to think about how the EU, in these difficult times when we have a war in Ukraine, can create a closer cooperation with a number of countries outside the EU, whether Great Britain, Norway or Switzerland. Of course, Ukraine and Turkey too, because the European Parliament is holding a series of debates about what the EU can offer Ukraine and Turkey," said Czech MEP Dita Haranzova./Rel