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European leaders prepare a united declaration against Russia's invasion of Ukraine
On the sixteenth day of the Russian invasion, the main European leaders raise a firm statement in Versailles.
The premise of this Friday's meeting would be to propose a European continent that is more militarily prepared and less dependent on Russian energy, in a serious context for the world due to the war started by Russia in Ukrainian territory.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, assured in his letter of invitation that the current situation demands more urgency for the construction of Europe's sovereignty, the reduction of dependencies and the deployment of a new format for growth and economic investment.
In this context, although it is an official informal meeting, the pressure of recent events has completely changed the landscape. This is due to the fact that an agreement called the “Versailles Declaration” is being worked on, which seeks to redefine the orientation of the European Union in the face of unknown situations driven by war.
The current situation on the continent has led some countries to highlight the existence of article 42.7 of the Lisbon Treaty, which indicates the obligation for member countries to assist and militarily defend any of the Twenty-seven in the event of foreign aggression.
These options are put on the table as the Kremlin has sent military threats to some non-NATO members of the European Union, such as Finland and Sweden.
For this reason, one of the main points will be the display of solid unity to continue to pressure Moscow through the most severe economic sanctions that have been imposed on any country and that some European countries assure that the Kremlin will not be able to resist.
Currently, five rounds of economic measures against Russia have been approved, the last one came into force on Thursday.
In total, 862 people and 53 companies from Russia and Belarus are identified. Furthermore, for the first time in history, the European Union has used money from European funds to pay for weapons that have been sent to Ukraine.
On the other hand, another important point to deal with is the issue of refugees, since currently the figure exceeds two million Ukrainians displaced to other European countries.
The vast majority have stayed in bordering countries such as Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Romania.
In addition, European leaders will discuss the applications to join the European Union from three former Soviet republics such as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.
