Behind the scenes of tense EU negotiations: Nausda surprised Merkel with an unexpected gift



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The gift was presented by the president at the EU summit in Brussels, diplomatic sources told BNS.

Welcoming German in German on Twitter, Merkel, the president of Lithuania, called her the European host 2020.

“My symbolic gift to you is a conductor’s wand. In European politics, we will fight for unity so that the political symphony sounds harmonious and long,” wrote the President in German on Twitter.

European Union leaders gathered in Brussels on Friday for the first summit after the pandemic to negotiate a 2021-2027 community budget and € 750 billion. European Recovery Fund.

The tense behind-the-scenes talks were sparked by congratulations to two leaders who celebrated their birthdays, Merkel on Friday at 66 and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa at 59.

Still, the commotion at the summit is much less than usual due to restrictions in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Heads of state and government on the red carpet were not greeted by a crowd of reporters when leaders stopped voicing their positions on live broadcast cameras, and most leaders abandoned ritual kisses and handshakes. .

Lithuanian President G. Nausėda said the European Council will seek to secure more funds from cohesion funds and faster growth of direct payments to farmers.

Speaking at the beginning of the meeting, G. Nausėda called on EU colleagues to repel Russia’s efforts to distort history by minimizing Soviet crimes, but the decision of European Council President Charles Michel did not develop a discussion on this issue, according to informed sources.

According to sources, in the first round of round-table negotiations, heads of state exchanged views on how the funds in the recovery fund should be distributed: the discussion focused on the formula for allocating money and the taking procedures decisions to allocate money to member states.

In late May, Lithuania’s appointed commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius announced that the new fund would offer Lithuania 6.3 billion. euros Of these, 3.9 billion. € 2.4 billion in grants and € 2.4 billion in EUR – possible loans. However, this amount may change after negotiations after the revision of the calculation formulas and the update of the economic forecasts.

Negotiations can take place all Saturday night, with the possibility of lasting until Sunday.

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