Blow to European leaders' summit as Azerbaijan, Turkey are no-shows

euronews (in English)

Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan pulled out of the gathering in Granada, Spain, at the last minute, robbing the summit of one of its key deliverables, an EU-brokered meeting with his Armenian counterpart to diffuse tensions in the Caucasus.

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00:00 Leaders of 45 European countries arriving in Granada, Spain, for the third meeting of

00:07 the so-called European political community.

00:11 The year-old format enables EU and non-EU countries to discuss the challenges they face

00:16 like security, energy, climate, enlargement and migration.

00:21 But while EU leaders are promising to maintain support for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky

00:26 asks for political unity from the whole continent.

00:30 The main challenge is what we have, that is to save unity in Europe.

00:35 And I`m speaking not only about the countries in EU, in all the Europe.

00:40 I think that is the biggest challenge what we`ll have, because Russia will attack by

00:45 information, disinformation, by fakes and et cetera.

00:50 The Granada summit is also aiming to give a large push towards EU enlargement.

00:55 Ukraine and Moldova would like to open accession talks by the end of the year, and six Western

01:00 Balkan candidate countries are also demanding a clear timeline.

01:04 Enlargement is always good for Europe.

01:05 It helps to provide us with security, helps to embed democracy and human rights, and also

01:12 helps the European economy to grow in the round.

01:14 So I think it`s really important that when we look at these questions, we don`t see them

01:18 just as a financial calculation.

01:20 Leaders were initially prepared to engage in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan after

01:24 Baku launched a military offensive in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

01:29 But Azerbaijan, together with Turkey, a key player in the region, rejected the invite

01:33 to Granada.

01:34 Baku says it is ready to negotiate with Yerevan, though.

01:38 The president of the European Council says the EU is interested in a stable caucus area

01:43 and demands guarantees from Azerbaijan not to escalate the conflict further.

01:48 I had a phone call two days ago with the president of Azerbaijan, and he made very clear that

01:53 they do not have to claim on Armenia.

01:55 It should be set in a very vocal way, I think, to make sure that there is the mutual recognition

02:01 for the total and integrity.

02:03 For many, the summit was a showcase for the lack of unity and minimal appetite for dialogue

02:08 in Europe.

02:11 But this summit has left the European political community in a state of shortage.

02:15 Two major absences, the one of the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the one of

02:18 the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have decaffeinated the long-awaited meeting

02:22 with the leaders of France, Germany and the European Council, together with Armenia, to

02:27 achieve to stabilize the situation in the Caucasus.

02:30 In addition, another disappointment, especially for journalists, has been the departure of

02:34 the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, just after the plenary session, which

02:38 has forced the organizers to cancel the press conference.

02:42 Aida Sanchez, Euronews, Granada.

02:43 [WHOOSH]

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