Press Advisories
6. 10. 2022 23:18
European leaders discuss security and economic issues at Prague Castle
The European Political Community, whose very first summit was hosted at the Prague Castle by the Czech Republic as part of its Presidency of the EU Council, is poised to become a new debate platform for representatives of democratically minded European countries, facilitating informal discussion on key European issues. This summit, which also saw a video address of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, focused mainly on current European issues caused above all by the Russian aggression in Ukraine, high energy prices and illegal migration.
At the beginning, Prime Minister Petr Fiala welcomed the arriving participants. “Europe is currently facing many complex issues and we meet here to discuss the solutions. The gravest issue is the war of aggression and the related suffering. Russia continues its unjust aggressive campaign against Ukraine and Vladimir Putin is not open to negotiation. His only goal is to conquer the country. The Russian actions of previous week confirm this once again. Holding referendums in occupied territories was a dirty trick that cannot be taken seriously by the international community,” said Petr Fiala, among other things, in his welcoming remarks.
The idea to hold such informal summit was pioneered by French President Emmanuel Macron during the French Presidency of the EU Council. “I would like to thank President Emmanuel Macron for coming up with the idea of creating this informal group and Charles Michel for helping us bring it to fruition,” said Czech PM Petr Fiala after the day-long session was concluded.
“We met here at a point in time that will, without exaggeration, decide the future of the European continent. We met here just as Russia’s war of aggression threatens our common security and stability. The fact that 44 European partners came here to seek common solutions and discuss our future cooperation is a great success,” said Prime Minister Fiala.
“Our agenda for the day consisted of a plenary session, thematic round tables and bilateral meetings to discuss peace and stability, migration, energy security and the European economy. Our common goal is to cooperate in order to promote the security, stability and prosperity of Europe as a whole. Today’s meeting has shown that the European Political Community is a meaningful format and I look forward to our next meetings in Chișinău, Spain and the United Kingdom,” the Prime Minister summarised the informal summit.
Besides the joint sessions, several bilateral meetings were held during the summit as well. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as well as with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. There were also other important separate meetings, such as that of Turkish President Erdoğan with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, representatives of two long-hostile countries.
The European Political Community is a platform for informal discussion and debate on topical issues, bringing together 44 European countries. It is not meant to replace existing European structures, nor does it draw any specific conclusions. It is intended to facilitate political dialogue and cooperation on issues of common European interest.
The Prague summit will continue tomorrow with an informal European Council meeting.
