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EU summit: Leaders to agree on top jobs after election – DW – 06/27/2024

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Skip next section PICTURES EU leaders meet in Brussels

June 27, 2024

PICTURES EU leaders meet in Brussels

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron speak during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels
European Union leaders are expected to discuss the next EU top jobsImage: Olivier Hoslet/AP/picture alliance
Olaf Scholz, Giorgia Meloni und Viktor Orban in Brussels
Italy’s Giorgia Meloni (center) and Hungary’s Viktor Orban (right) denounced the process ahead of the summit to select new leaders for the EU’s top jobsImage: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/picture alliance
Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte arrives for an EU summit in Brussels
Mark Rutte is attending the summit for the last time as Dutch premier. He will become NATO Secretary General in OctoberImage: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/picture alliance
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Council President Charles Michel in discussion at the EU summit in Brussels
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told European leaders Russia’s offensive in Kharkiv showed the existing level of international pressure on Moscow was insufficientImage: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/picture alliance

https://p.dw.com/p/4hbT4

Skip next section Tusk to receive Zelenskyy in Warsaw before July NATO summit

June 27, 2024

Tusk to receive Zelenskyy in Warsaw before July NATO summit

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that he will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before July 9.

“We agreed with President Zelenskyy to talk in Warsaw before the NATO summit,” Tusk said in a post published on the platform X, formerly Twitter, as he and Zelenskyy attended an EU summit in Brussels.

“The EU has understood what Poles have known from the start of this war: the defense of Ukraine is the defense of Europe,” Tusk said.

The July 9 NATO summit is scheduled to be held in Washington, DC.

Earlier on Thursday, Zelenskyy signed with leaders in Brussels a security agreement that committed EU member states to continue supporting Ukraine “regardless of any internal institutional changes.”

https://p.dw.com/p/4hbFC

Skip next section Orban labels top jobs deal as ‘shameful agreement’

June 27, 2024

Orban labels top jobs deal as ‘shameful agreement’

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban criticized Ursula von der Leyen’s party, the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), and its allies for what he described as a “shameful agreement” on dividing the EU’s top jobs. 

“European voters have been deceived. The EPP formed a coalition of lies with the left and the liberals. We do not support this shameful agreement!” Orban said on X, formerly Twitter.

The nationalist Hungarian leader’s remarks echoed earlier comments by Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who also claimed the deal ignored the voters’ will. 

The EPP agreed with its main allies, the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the centrist Renew, on a deal to propose candidates to helm the EU following the elections. The deal was endorsed by six leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz, acting as negotiators for their political families. 

https://p.dw.com/p/4hawA

Skip next section Scholz aims to discuss financing host countries of Ukrainian refugees

June 27, 2024

Scholz aims to discuss financing host countries of Ukrainian refugees

 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to the media as European leaders gathered at a summit in Brussels
Scholz said a new EU deal with Ukraine is an important sign of solidarity in difficult timesImage: Yves Herman/REUTERS

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for financial support for EU countries that have hosted the most Ukrainian refugees. 

In remarks to the press upon arrival at the summit, Scholz noted that Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic are among those countries. 

“If other countries are less involved in taking in refugees,” he said, this must mean that the EU supports the host countries “especially financially.” Scholz said such financing was needed in areas such as living expenses or integration and language courses

He said he expected the topic to be discussed in the two-day summit. 

Scholz’s remarks come amid calls by German conservative politicians to limit help for Ukrainian refugees in Germany.

The leader of the Bavarian conservatives (CSU) in parliament, Alexander Dobrindt, had said that Ukrainian refugees in Germany should “start working or return to safe areas in west Ukraine.”

Last month, after years of debate, the EU formally approved new migration and asylum rules that include tougher borders and shared responsibility among the bloc’s members.

https://p.dw.com/p/4haDb

Skip next section Zelenskyy signs EU-Ukraine security pact

June 27, 2024

Zelenskyy signs EU-Ukraine security pact

European Council President Charles Michel, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, pose with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as they take part in a signature ceremony of a security agreement during an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27
Zelenskyy took part in a signing ceremony of the security agreement during an EU summit in BrusselsImage: ASSOCIATED PRESS/picture alliance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a security agreement with the EU that he had earlier hailed as an advancement of “peace and prosperity.”

The new security agreement, dubbed “Joint Security Commitments between the EU and Ukraine,” ensures the bloc’s support to Kyiv “regardless of any internal institutional changes,” Zelenskyy had earlier said.

After taking part in the signing ceremony, Zelenskyy is addressing EU leaders who are meeting in Brussels to agree on dividing the bloc’s top jobs after the latest European Parliament election. 

Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who is expected to be selected as the next EU foreign policy chief, and Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda also signed bilateral security agreements with Zelenskyy in Brussels.

https://p.dw.com/p/4haUY

Skip next section ‘No decision without Meloni,’ Poland’s Tusk says amid Italian leader pushback

June 27, 2024

‘No decision without Meloni,’ Poland’s Tusk says amid Italian leader pushback

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who was part of the negotiating team that proposed the top jobs, said there had been a “misunderstanding” after his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, criticized the deal. 

Tusk said the deal was reached only “to facilitate the process” and for Meloni and other leaders to make the decision, adding: “no-one respects PM Meloni and Italy more than I do.”

“There is no Europe without Italy and there is no decision without Prime Minister Meloni,” he said. 

Meloni, whose political group in the European Parliament is now the third-largest, had said the deal naming the new top EU officials did not take into account the will of EU citizens “who are calling for a more concrete, less ideological Europe.”

Italy: Why do people vote for the right?

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https://p.dw.com/p/4ha4v

Skip next section Ukraine pact to guarantee EU support ‘regardless of any internal institutional changes’

Published June 27, 2024last updated June 27, 2024

Ukraine pact to guarantee EU support ‘regardless of any internal institutional changes’

European Council President Charles Michel, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak with the media during arrivals for an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, June 27
Zelenskyy made brief remarks to the press as he arrived at the summitImage: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/picture alliance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was in Brussels to attend the EU summit and “thank all European leaders for their unity and for affirming the irreversibility of our European course.”

Zelenskyy said he would sign three agreements, including one with the EU.

“For the first time, this agreement will enshrine the commitment of all 27 Member States to provide Ukraine with extensive support, regardless of any internal institutional changes,” he said.

Outgoing European Council President Charles Michel told reporters that the security agreement would “give the message we intend to support Ukraine as long as it takes.”

Zelenskyy did not provide details about the other two, but they are likely the outcome of bilateral talks on the sidelines with leaders of EU member states.

Ukraine has already signed several bilateral security agreements with allies including the US, France, Germany, Britain and Japan. Such agreements are not mutual defense pacts, but they rather outline the countries’ commitments to support Ukraine with military aid and other forms of assistance over a number of years.

https://p.dw.com/p/4hZmJ

Skip next section What else is on the agenda?

June 27, 2024

What else is on the agenda?

Leaders of the EU’s 27 member states are set to discuss the Israel-Hamas war and economic competitiveness. They are also expected to adopt a strategic agenda for the next five years.

The EU’s support for Ukraine will also be discussed, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expected to sign a security agreement with the bloc. Attending the talks in Brussels, Zelenskyy is set to brief EU leaders on the situation on the front line in Ukraine.

https://p.dw.com/p/4hYxA

Skip next section Who are the candidates?

June 27, 2024

Who are the candidates?

After the June 2024 European Parliament election, the three main centrist groups in the legislature agreed on a deal backing Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president for another five-year term. 

Under the deal, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas would serve as the EU’s foreign policy chief, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed on Wednesday.

The groups also agreed to tap former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa for the position of the European Council president, who chairs meetings of the EU’s national leaders.  

Although the deal is likely to have support among most leaders, it could also face some opposition. 

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has already criticized the plan, saying that her group had less of a say in the appointments. 

“It does not seem to me that a willingness to take into account what the citizens have said at the ballot box has emerged so far,” she said on Wednesday.

Von der Leyen needs European Parliament majority backing to be confirmed in the post. European Parliament members must also approve Kallas for the foreign policy chief role, while the European Council president’s job does not require parliamentary approval.

EU’s von der Leyen vows to ‘build bastion’ against extreme left and right

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fb/kb (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

https://p.dw.com/p/4hYx8

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