Ukraine Fights While EU Debates its Future

As the vote for Candidacy for Ukraine to the EU has begun, the governments of Bulgaria and the Czech Republic deal with internal issues. 

This Week on Visegrad Insight:

• Martin Ehl will lay out the reasons for granting Ukraine candidacy status.
• Oana Despa will outline the issues with Romania’s new Security laws as well as ways to improve them.
• Christine Karelska will cover the current state of Orthodoxy in the region during the war.

EU/regional:

•  The Three Seas Initiative Presidential Summit and Business Forum is taking place from 20 to 21 June in Riga, Latvia hosted by President Egils Levits. This is a yearly forum where business representatives and Presidents come together to discuss the region’s ambitions and priorities. Last month Visegrad Insight took part in the first 3SI Civil Society Forum. Read more about the countries’ perspectives of each 3SI member in the following book by the Latvian Institute of International Affairs where Visegrad Insight’s Editor in Chief, Wojciech Przybylski, and managing editor Kamil Jarończyk co-authored the chapter on Poland. 
• The US delegation has announced that it will be contributing to the 3SI Investment Fund.
• The European Commission has recommended that Ukraine and Moldova be granted candidate status, what is noteworthy is that the same status was not given to Georgia which is a heavy blow to the ruling party in the country. Now it is up to the Council to decide whether Ukraine and Moldova be officially granted the status.
• French President Emmanuel Macron’s party has lost its absolute majority in the Parlament but has retained plurality. This will make ruling France more difficult for the president whose party will have to build coalitions to pass legislation.
• On 20 June the Cooperation Council between the European Union and Kazakhstan will hold its nineteenth meeting. The Cooperation Council will discuss the state of play and the next steps of the EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. It will then exchange views on political, economic, and trade matters (including internal reforms, rule of law and human rights, regional trade) and cooperation.
• On 21 June Ministers will prepare the agenda of the upcoming European Council of 23 and 24 June.
• On 22 June, MEPs will outline their expectations for the 23-24 June European Council and will discuss whether Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia should be granted EU candidate status. A resolution on these countries will be put to the vote on 23 June.
• On 22 June a ‘This is Europe’ debate with Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenković will be held in the European Parlament.
• On 23 June, MEPs will debate the Russian government’s relations with European parties on the extreme right and left, in the context of the war in Ukraine.
• From 23 to 24 June The European Council will discuss the wider Europe; Ukraine; membership applications from Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia; economic issues; the Conference on the Future of Europe, and external relations.

Ukraine’s EU Future Amidst a War

Ukraine: