At the summit of the European Council, the Czech Republic succeeded in pushing through all the demands it was concerned with. According to Prime Minister Petr Fiala, the European Council has clearly shown who is the aggressor in the conflict in the Middle East.
“The European Council recognized Israel’s right to self-defense, condemned the attacks by Hamas, called for the immediate release of all hostages, and also emphasized that humanitarian aid must not be misused by terrorists,” Fiala said after the summit.
He added that the Czech Republic had also managed to introduce into the text a mention of the need not to spread disinformation in connection with the Middle East conflict. According to Fiala, the common interest of all the G27 leaders is to prevent the regional escalation of the conflict.
According to the Czech Prime Minister, the EU’s compromise position on the war in the Middle East means support for Israel. “The declaration on Israel is very important. The main thing is that we were able to find a common language. The declaration meets all the requirements: Israel’s right to self-defense, condemnation of the attacks, there is no relativization, at the same time there is a mention of the need to control the humanitarian aid that the EU sends to the Palestinians,” added Fiala.
In the area of migration, Fiala mentioned the deportation of unsuccessful asylum seekers. “The European Union financially and materially supports third countries in preventing migrants on their way to Europe. That is the path that is certainly right,” he said.
Although the leaders of the G27 had economic topics and support for Ukraine on the table on Friday – no small multiplier – it was the calmer day from the autumn summit in Brussels.
The twenty-seven-year-old argued for five hours about the situation in the Middle East
After yesterday’s complex discussion about the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip, support for Ukraine, the budget debate and migration were on the “menu”. For example, there was talk of the European Commission’s proposal to allocate 50 billion euros (over 1.2 trillion CZK) for the next four years to rebuild Ukraine, support its rapprochement with the EU, and other needs. And finally, at twenty-seven, a match was found for her.
“The important thing is that there is a willingness to help Ukraine in winter. It can be assumed that Russia will again target critical infrastructure and will need humanitarian aid,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said at the meeting on aid to Ukraine.
EU political leaders agreed that the crisis in the Middle East must not overshadow the war in the EU’s neighborhood in Ukraine. A tense moment was the attitude of the old new Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his ally Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Fico, who was only appointed to the position of prime minister on Wednesday, met with the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels during the summit. On Friday morning, he also held talks with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
“It seems logical to me that the prime ministers of the Czech Republic and Slovakia meet. We are politicians, the public in both countries wants us to be able to talk to each other. Yes, we will have different opinions on a number of international political issues, but our duty is to find common ground,” said Fiala.
The Slovak Prime Minister published his position during Friday’s meeting on the social network Facebook. “I am ready to support the increase of our contribution to the EU budget by approximately 400 million euros over the next four years, despite the fact that Slovakia’s public finances are devastated,” emphasized the Slovak Prime Minister.
Fico added that he will not respect any cuts in EU funds intended to support agriculture, nor in cohesion funds. “Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and we condition its brutal financial support on guarantees that European money (including Slovak money) will not be embezzled and that part of these resources will be used to restore Slovak infrastructure in border areas and to support Slovak companies in the reconstruction of Ukraine,” he said Fico to help Ukraine.
