In view of the tense relations between the EU and Russia, he is also in favor of the Franco-German proposal for a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It could not be that the dialogue with Russia and the EU “is limited to us sitting there and watching what (US President Joe) Biden and Putin discuss,” said shortly before the EU meeting in Brussels on Thursday .
The EU “is geographically closer to Russia, many of the problems affect us more directly than the US,” said Kurz. Therefore, “we as well as Germany and other states will demand that there must be a direct exchange between the European Union and Russia, despite all the differences”. He supported a “dual approach”: Clear reaction to human rights violations, but still leave channels of conversation open.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a similar statement earlier. “It is not enough for American President Joe Biden to talk to the Russian President,” said Merkel in the Bundestag in Berlin. “The European Union must also create discussion formats here.”
Merkel called for a more united stance on the part of the EU towards Russia. “The events of the past few months have clearly shown that it is not enough if we react in an uncoordinated manner to the multitude of Russian provocations,” said Merkel in what is likely to be her last government statement in her almost 16-year term in office.
At the EU summit in Brussels, Russia is to be threatened with additional economic sanctions. According to information from the German Press Agency, the latest draft for the final declaration of the meeting states that there is “the need for a resolute and coordinated reaction by the EU and its member states to any further malicious, illegal and disruptive activity by Russia”. The EU must therefore make full use of the instruments available to it. To this end, the EU Commission and Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell should present “options for further restrictive measures”, including economic sanctions.
At the same time, according to the draft for the final declaration of the summit this Thursday and Friday, it should be emphasized that the EU remains open to cooperation with Russia in certain areas. These include, for example, climate protection as well as the fight against international terrorism and health policy. At first, however, it remained unclear whether after the summit an attempt would be made to resume the top-level dialogue with Russia that had been suspended in the course of the Ukraine crisis, in line with a proposal by Germany and France.
Russia welcomed the push to return to peak meetings with the EU on Thursday. “We rate this initiative positively,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow, according to the Interfax agency. President Putin is an advocate when it comes to re-establishing dialogue and contacts between Brussels and Moscow.
The Ukrainian government, however, warned against the resumption of peak meetings. These are a “dangerous deviation from the EU sanctions policy” and would prevent Russia “even more from the implementation of the Minsk agreements” for peace in Ukraine, said the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitri Kuleba, according to dpa on Thursday in Brussels.
Turkey will also be the subject of the EU summit. According to EU circles, the EU Commission put a proposal on the table, according to which Turkey will receive 3.5 billion euros by 2024 for the accommodation of refugees. “If the European Commission takes additional money into their hands here, it is appropriate and okay, but it must also be linked to preventing people from illegally moving on,” said Kurz.
Kurz also referred to the human rights situation in Turkey: “There are still human rights violations taking place there, fundamental rights and freedoms are restricted.” Kurz welcomed the EU’s quick reaction to developments in Belarus, while at the same time emphasizing that he did not want to look the other way around Turkey. “As an EU, you always have credibility if you don’t set double standards,” said the Chancellor.
