Europe’s new ‘Political Community’ looks east as it stands up to Russiahttps://en.majalla.com/node/293031/politics/europe%E2%80%99s-new-%E2%80%98political-community%E2%80%99-looks-east-it-stands-russia
Moldova’s capital Chisinau was the host of the second summit of the European Political Community at the start of June, a new organisation with the potential to boost the continent’s international voice in troubled times.
The location of the meeting itself highlighted the security challenges the region faces. Leaders – including Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky – met just 8 kilometres away from the separatist Transnistria region, 21km from the Ukrainian border, and 250 km from Russia.
An increasingly aggressive Moscow tops the list of emerging threats, but there are others, not least in the Balkans and the South Caucasus.
The EPC was set up in October 2022 and held its first summit in Prague. It has a wider membership that the European Union. In Chisinau, 45 countries were represented, and the choice of an Eastern European venue for the second successive meeting shows the shift in strategic currents on the continent.
It reaffirmed the geopolitical competition over the EU’s sphere of influence within the bloc’s near neighbourhood and its determination to ensure greater security and stability.
The choice of an Eastern European venue for the second successive meeting shows the shift in strategic currents on the continent. It reaffirmed the geopolitical competition over the EU's sphere of influence within the bloc's near neighbourhood.
The EPC has a consultative role but is also seen as a potential stepping stone for countries interested in full EU membership. It also provides a means for conflict resolution.
A new, wider international forum in Europe
Europe is not short of region-wide government or international organisations. Chief among them are the EU and the Council of Europe.
While the EU stands out as the most successful international organisation of its kind — especially in terms of achieving economic prosperity and stability — it is not known for the speed at which it moves.
Now a 27-member group after Brexit took the United Kingdom out, the EU remains attractive to would-be members, including Ukraine, Turkey and Moldova. The extent to which countries must be aligned before they join makes membership a time-consuming and intricate process. Recently, geopolitical shifts have occurred more quickly.
President of France Emmanuel Macron (L) and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky attend the European Political Community (EPG) summit in Bulboaca.
And so, France's President Emmanuel Macron, while holding the rotating presidency of the EU in May 2022, proposed that a new, wider advisory body be set up to cover like-minded nations spanning Europe's geography from the Caucasus to Iceland.
It became the 47-member EPC, a forum for discussions, consultations, brainstorming, and proposing ideas. Russia and Belarus are the only European countries not to be members.
Macron proposed that a new, wider advisory body be set up to cover like-minded nations spanning Europe's geography from the Caucasus to Iceland. It became the 47-member EPC, a forum for discussions, consultations, brainstorming, and proposing ideas.
Scepticism and symbolic importance
Some scepticism remains over the EPC's likely effectiveness compared with the diplomatic heft of the EU and the Council of Europe. But it draws in prospective EU members and provides access to the UK after Brexit, adding to the extent of potential collaboration.
Whatever else, the EPC has also emerged at a time of significant strategic change, carrying symbolic importance.
Messages from Moldova
The choice of Chisinau for the second EPC summit sent a strong signal. Moldova is a small country, bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the east and is a former Soviet republic.
Chisinau: President of Moldova Maia Sandu (R) welcomes President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Bulboaca, ahead of the European Political Community (EPG) summit in Moldova.
It has a population of only 2.6 million people, stoking concern that it could easily become exposed to the war in Ukraine, not least due to its sensitive location and the presence of the pro-Russia Transnistria region within its borders.
Moldova's President Maya Sandu took the opportunity to advocate her country's acceptance into the EU at the meeting, which was the largest political event the country has hosted.
The summit was a symbolic gesture of reassurance to Moldova over its own security – as a country near the conflict that has received a large number of Ukrainian refugees compared with wealthier EU states – and with timings over its potential accession to the bloc unclear.
Sanctions on Putin loyalists
On the eve of the summit, the European Commission in Brussels imposed sanctions on individuals loyal to Putin and accused them of destabilising Moldova.
Ukraine dominated the agenda from the start of the second EPC summit, just as it did at the first.
President Zelensky was the first leader to arrive, and from then on it was clear that Europe – with Nato behind it – was determined to show Russia's President Vladimir Putin that Moldova was not abandoned and that support for Ukraine is as determined as ever, as Kyiv continued to prepare a counter-offensive against invaders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meets with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Moldova.
President Zelensky was the first leader to arrive, and from then on it was clear that Europe – with Nato behind it – was determined to show Putin that Moldova was not abandoned and that support for Ukraine is as determined as ever.
Zelensky repeated his call for Ukraine's membership of the EU to be expedited, calling for the decision to be made this year. The country's pathway into the bloc seems both clear and certain.
This long, hard yet productive day is coming to an end.
This morning, our Ukrainian delegation was in Moldova for the Summit of the European Political Community. I am grateful to Madam President of Moldova @sandumaiamd for the invitation and warm and hospitable welcome.... pic.twitter.com/m40D4G33MZ
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 1, 2023
But there is less clarity over Ukraine's potential membership of Nato, due to the potential for direct and highly dangerous confrontation with Russia, particularly with the United States leading the alliance.
As well as covering the Ukraine conflict, the Moldova summit took on a range of issues, including energy and communication issues.
Other security-related matters included the Armenian-Azerbaijani crisis, as well as the escalating tensions in the Balkans.
The summit provided a valuable opportunity for bilateral meetings that reaffirmed previous European efforts to resolve the dispute between Yerevan and Baku, taking into account Russia's diminishing role and Turkey's willingness to engage with Armenia.
Azerbaijani President, European Council President, Armenian Prime Minister, German Chancellor and French President attending a meeting as part of the European Political Community (EPC) Summit at the Mimi Castle in Bulboaca, Moldova
Discussion over the Balkans was substantive. The efforts of Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and France's President Macron led to a four-way meeting between them and Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić and his Kosovar counterpart, Vjosa Osmani.
This was the latest attempt to find a solution to the growing tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, almost 25 years after the end of the Kosovo war. The initiative gained more significance after Nato deployed additional forces to contain the aftermath of the clashes in northern Kosovo that occurred in late May.
Those clashes revived memories of the Balkans as the tinderbox of World War I and the conflicts during Yugoslavia's disintegration in the 1990s. Europeans fear that Russia may exploit the tensions in Serbia at this critical moment for the region.
The Kosovo clashes revived memories of the Balkans as the tinderbox of World War I and the conflicts during Yugoslavia's disintegration in the 1990s. Europeans fear that Russia may exploit the tensions in Serbia at this critical moment for the region.
Convening power – and its limits
The EPC's second summit showed the importance of Europe and the EU, not least through its convening power, even if the is not moving toward the status as one of the world's emerging multi-polar power centres.
There are three major international players – the US, China and Russia – and each is in some way opposed to the EU, or has an interest in marginalising the bloc.
Europe's global status will not be enhanced by the establishment of any new expansionist institutions, but rather by achieving consensus and moving beyond an a purely economic role.
This process will be shaped by the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine. It will also be influenced by the choices made by major European countries over a shared defence policy, even if comes within the framework of Nato.
