In Brussels, on December 14 and 15, 2023, the 27 ratified the start of negotiations for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. We talk about it with Philippe Lamberts, co-president of the Greens group in the European Parliament and close observer of this Council, who is “delighted” by this decision. He is vindictive about the attitude of Viktor Orban, who used his right of veto on the granting of a financial support plan of 50 billion euros over 4 years to Ukraine, conditioning the revision of its decision to release European Union funds for his country.
“ This is an absolutely essential signal to send to Ukraine. (…) But Europe came close to missing the boat »: Philippe Lamberts welcomes with these words the Council’s decision on the opening of Ukraine’s accession negotiations. (…) “ The accession of Ukraine would bring resources, a people very motivated for European construction and also strategic depth for the European Union “. Other countries have also seen their accession process move forward during this Council, such as Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and their integration will be a game-changer and lead to necessary reforms, some of which must be presented in advance. here summer 2024: “ If we were to keep the current financing rules, which are totally senseless and outdated, Ukraine would find itself being the only net beneficiary country from the European budget. All other countries would become net contributors. We therefore clearly need to completely rethink the method of financing the European Union. (…) Either member states contribute to the European Union or they allow the European Union to levy the tax directly “, he suggests.
Blackmail that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, according to him, exercised during the votes of this Council: “ the fact that we dropped 10 billion euros on him two days before the summit is problematic (…) What happened, it’s not arm wrestling, it’s blackmail, to which it must be admitted that the Council and the Commission responded by freeing up money », he thunders.
In a few months, European citizens will be called to the polls to nominate 720 elected representatives to the European Parliament. Polls show a rise in populist, far-right parties. The Green MP fumes: “what worries me most is that these populist national parties are strengthened by the rallying of traditional parties to their language. (…) The historic parties which forged the European Union, the Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats, the Liberals, the Greens should not feed the fear machine of the extreme right,” he concludes.