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The pandemic forced EU heads of state and government to meet remotely in the spring. Today, the Heads of State and Government will meet again in Brussels.
We’ll see how long they can do that. Corona infection is on the rise in many EU countries and the foreign meeting that was supposed to take place last Thursday and Friday had to be postponed because the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, was quarantined.
In any case, there is no shortage of topics to discuss. From Belarus to the conflict in the eastern Mediterranean between Turkey and Greece.
EU Summit: conflicts on the agenda
These are some of the items on the agenda:
• Belarus: Britain and Canada have just announced new sanctions against Belarus after weeks of protests there against the August 9 presidential election. In principle, the EU has also decided to impose sanctions, but it has been blocked by Cyprus, which also wants to take a tougher stance on Turkey.
• Turkey-Greece conflict: The situation in the eastern Mediterranean was very tense in late summer when Turkey searched for gas and oil in the waters claimed by Greece. Tensions have eased somewhat recently since Greece and Turkey agreed to new talks.
• Conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan: this weekend, strong clashes broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is outside the territory of the EU, but the conflict that recently erupted is on the agenda.
• The poisoning of Alexei Navalny: The nerve agent attack on the leader of the Russian opposition will also be discussed. Navalny received care in Germany and was released from the hospital. History has made Russian-German relations worse.
• Relations with China: EU top executives and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a separate summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in early September. Germany is the country that holds the presidency of the EU. This will also be followed up at the EU summit.
