This Thursday and Friday, European leaders are gathered in Versailles, France, for a European summit devoted to the Ukrainian crisis and the consequences for Europe. a summit “fundamental” for the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, because, she says, we have to realize “that the world has changed at the gates of Europe”.
For the Minister, this should be a wake-up call for Europe, a “wake-up call”. The Covid crisis had already highlighted Europe’s strategic dependencies on other countries. The war in Ukraine accentuates this emphasis. “IYou have to be able to react to it at the economic level, at the energy level”, said Minister Wilmès. “There are also defense expenditures that will be addressed”underlines the minister.
With regard to the expectations vis-à-vis this summit, for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it would be “a mistake to say that following two days of very high-level meetings we would immediately have the answers to all the questions”. On the other hand, this summit should serve to “to create the path, to create the political momentum and to give the mandate to the (European) Commission so that it comes up with concrete proposals on these various projects”says the Minister.
On the question of Europe’s energy supply, of which 40% of the gas, for example, comes from Russia, “it’s up to us to see how we can get out of our dependence on Russian gas and oil in a significant way fairly quickly, without putting us, Europe, out of service”summarizes the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
