Ukraine Warupdated 34m ago2 min read
Archive photo · 9 September 2017Giorgia Meloni Demands EU Mandate for Ukraine Talks, Urges Costa Agenda in Dublin
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Meloni calls for a single EU negotiating voice and explicit mandate. Meloni urges designation of a European special envoy to negotiate with Russia over Ukraine.
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Meloni demands mandate
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote to European Council President António Costa demanding that the EU not accept Ukraine commitments “in the absence of a mandate,” and she said the EU must “speak with one voice” on the Ukraine issue. Meloni told Costa that “We will not accept EU negotiations without a mandate,” and she warned that “by giving the image of an Europe that is going in a chaotic order” leaders were serving “the interests of those who want this war to continue.”
Meloni asked Costa to put the issue on the agenda of the “next informal European Council in Dublin” so that the “December European Council can formalize a decision on the point,” including coordination with the United Kingdom and Norway. Meloni also insisted, “I am not asking for a seat for Italy in this or that format,” and she said she was “ready to say that I do not seek this role for myself or for Italy.”
EU talks called chaotic
Meloni criticized the EU’s Ukraine diplomacy as “uncoordinated, with initiatives that chase after one another,” and she said “All of this makes us appear completely untrustworthy” in handling “one of the most complex dossiers our countries face.” Meloni pointed to recent talks in Miami and Oslo, and she cited a phone call between Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre with Kremlin Chief Vladimir Putin as a negative example.
Meloni also referenced the planned talks in Abu Dhabi, where “Talks with Russia and Ukraine are planned in Abu Dhabi for next week,” and she tied the need for a clear EU negotiating representative to preventing Europe from being “condemned to insignificance.” Meloni said EU heads of state and government must decide “once and for all” who sits at the negotiating table on behalf of the European Union and with what mandate, and she demanded consultations at the EU summit in Dublin in November and a formal decision in December.
Dublin and December
Meloni urged EU leaders to discuss her mandate demand at an informal European Council in Dublin next week, with the aim of deciding how the EU should be represented in peace talks. Euronews said Meloni’s letter arrived as officials from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, the “E3,” converged in Brussels with representatives of the United States and Ukraine to discuss how to end the war.
Meloni warned that the EU risks being excluded from future diplomatic efforts to end the war, and Business AM said she urged the EU to appoint a special envoy for peace tasked with negotiating with Russia over Ukraine. Meloni also argued that the EU’s fragmented approach had left it without a principal representative to lead negotiations for a ceasefire after more than four years of war, and she said the next informal European Council in Dublin should be used to formalize a decision at the December summit.