In a debate with the Commission and the Belgian Presidency, MEPs outline their expectations for the 21 -22 March EU summit. During their meeting in Brussels, heads of state or government focus on the latest developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine and the EU’s continued support for Ukraine. They also discuss the war in the Gaza Strip and the situation in the Middle East as well as security and defence issues. The Commission also wants to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Opening statements by Hadja LAHBIB, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade, and the Federal Cultural Institutions and Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

Enlargement to Bosnia and Herzegovina (T)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

VON DER LEYEN, Ursula (DE, EC)

LAHBIB, Hadja (BE)

European Council meeting 21-22 march 2024 (T)

Council and Commission statements - Preparation of the European Council meeting of 21 and 22 March 2024: Opening statements by Council and Commission

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Now I come to the first item on today's agenda, which is Council and Commission statements. Preparation of the European Council meeting of the 21st and 22nd of March 2024. I give the floor first for the Council to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade and Federal cultural institutions, Hadja LAHBIB.

SOUNDBITE (French), Hadja LAHBIB, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade, 'Madam President, Honourable Members of the European Parliament and Members of the Commission. The 21st and Friday the 22nd of March this year, and it is quite a busy agenda with a number of issues on the agenda assistance for Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, security and defence, the European Union, also enlargement, the migration, farming and then to end the European Semester leaders will meet for lunch with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Gutierrez, and they will talk about the geopolitical situation.

SOUNDBITE (French), Hadja LAHBIB, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade, We'll also be commemorating the 30th anniversary of the European Economic Area with the Prime Minister of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. When it comes to Ukraine, we've had two very long years of war and the Ukrainians have been fighting Russia. And in the past few months, European Council has taken key decisions on Ukraine, especially opening accession negotiations in February. Also on sustainable funding on the Ukraine facility, we now need to accelerate and intensify military support for Ukraine by the EU Member States, within the European Peace Facility, but also via direct bilateral assistance from Member States and need to respond to the needs of Ukrainians when it comes to missiles.

SOUNDBITE (French), Hadja LAHBIB, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade And the Council, as you know, has just adopted the 13th package of sanctions, which seeks to step up pressure on Russia and increase the effectiveness of sanctions, also preventing circumvention as sanctions. And the Council has condemned the elections in the occupied areas will never acknowledge the results. When it comes to defence, there is a need to strengthen the industrial technological base and they will be at the heart of the Council's discussions. There'll be proposals from the Commission on the programme and these highlight how much we want to take more responsibility for our security and defence together with alongside nature. Also the Council be looking at changes planned for the strategic compass such as military mobility, real exercises, strengthening space security, the fight against cyber threats and hybrid threats, and the fight against manipulation and foreign interference.

SOUNDBITE (French), Hadja LAHBIB, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade Now come to the Middle East. We cannot remain passive given the humanitarian tragedy that's taking place in Gaza and there's an imminent threat of famine. Children are already dying from malnutrition. The urgent supply of fuels, medicines and essential goods needs to be done without obstacles. We also need to reiterate the importance of protecting all civilians in line with international humanitarian law. And we also need to respect the ruling, the binding ruling from the International Court of Justice on the 26th of January. We need to have a longstanding ceasefire and we need to put in place humanitarian assistance. We also need to avoid it spreading to Lebanon, Iran or the Red Sea, where the Aspides operation has been launched. You need to have a peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, ...

SOUNDBITE (French), Hadja LAHBIB, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade We'll also talk about enlargement of the EU at the European Council, and we will focus on the progress made by Bosnia Herzegovina since December in the accession process. And these discussions will be based on the report which will be published by the Commission today. The European Council will also be able to look at the situation and progress in Moldova and Ukraine. When it comes to external relations, the Council will look at the latest developments in Russia and Belarus. The brutal death of Alexei Navalny was a huge shock for all of us. And here within this Parliament you awarded the Sakharov Prize to Mr. Navalny for his fight for democracy and the fight against corruption.

SOUNDBITE (French), Hadja LAHBIB, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade Despite all of the obstacles that he faced on the 28th of February, you welcomed his widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who talked about the extent of the dictatorship in Russia and the elections which will take place in a few days, and we know what the outcome will be. They will keep Vladimir Putin in power despite everything. And she warned us and she said not just for us to stick to resolutions, but to take action. An unprecedented level of repression and human rights violations. And there is a lack of access to independent media in Belarus. We need to continue to take inspiration from the Belarusian people when it comes to peace and also within the discussions at the European Council.

SOUNDBITE (French), Hadja LAHBIB, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade And this was dealt with at the last European Council and this will be discussed again next week. We need to continue efforts to ensure we have better income for the work we are doing. And we also at the European Council, have a contribution from the Commission who will be taking stock of the situation on the European Semester and this will be at the end of the agenda and we will be focusing in April on competitiveness. Thank you very much,

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President Thank And now you I Minister. give the floor to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the EC Thank you very much, Madam President, dear Roberta, Minister, dear Hadja, Honourable Members. Indeed, we are heading towards a packed European Council with topics, as you said, from Ukraine to the Middle East defence to enlargement. I want to focus on two topics. The first one is enlargement. As we speak, a ship is setting sail from Cyprus to northern Gaza. It carries the most basic kind of humanitarian aid, which is almost the most needed today. Food, plain and simple. Food for a population that faces a humanitarian catastrophe. This maritime corridor is the result of unprecedented international cooperation under the leadership of President Nikos Christodoulides.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the EC We have worked hand in hand not only with Cyprus, but also with the United Arab Emirates, the United States, the United Kingdom. I was at the Port of Larnaca just before the ship's departure. It is as impressive as it is needed. When fully operational, this maritime corridor could guarantee a sustained, a regulated and a robust flow of aid to Gaza. And this is the first time that a ship is authorised to deliver aid to Gaza since 2005. Finally, it is an additional lifeline for the people of Gaza. The situation on the ground is more dramatic than ever and it has reached a tipping point. We have all seen the report. This cannot be and we must do all in our power to stop it. Everybody knows how difficult it is to move aid into and within Gaza, all routes have to be used to reach people in need. And this is where the maritime corridor comes into play. It can crucially help increase the amount of aid effectively reaching people in northern Gaza.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the EC 'The United States will now work to set up a floating port. We work with smaller ships. The United Arab Emirates and other partners will co-finance the cargo. Cyprus will manage the departure at the Port of Larnaca, and we, the European Union, will step up our logistic support on the ground. An EU coordination team is already in Cyprus and we will finance and coordinate the flow of European goods through this corridor. In parallel, several countries, including some of our Member States, have started to airdrop humanitarian aid from Jordan into Gaza. And today I can announce that we have activated the EU Civil protection mechanism to strengthen our support, and I encourage all Member States to contribute with their assets from parachute to containers to allow a stable and meaningful supply of aid to Gaza. This year alone, the European Commission has committed €250 million in aid for Palestinians, but the aid must reach civilians in need a...

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the EC At the end of February, the World Food Programme was forced to end its operations in the North of the Strip due to the security situation. The aid is now often self distributed by the population and we have all seen the dramatic images. We must ensure the safety of the distribution of aid within Gaza, and this makes it even more important to work with those agencies that still have a presence on the ground. And this is the case with UNWRA. We all know in January the serious allegations that were moved against some UNWRA staff. This is why we decided to assess our funding decisions in light of the actions taken by the United Nations and UNWRA in response to those allegations. Since then, the United Nations has carried out an internal investigation and created an independent review group led by Catherine Colonna. UNWRA has also agreed to an audit by external experts appointed by the European Union, and as a result, we will proceed with a payment of €50 million in support of UNWRA. And the next tranches will be released as soon as the agency takes the other steps we have agreed together. All of this with one simpl...

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the EC But in the current circumstances, aid alone will not solve the crisis. Of course, Israel has a right to defend itself and fight off Hamas, but the protection of civilians must be ensured at all times in line with international law. And right now, there's only one way to restore an adequate flow of humanitarian aid. The people of Gaza need an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire, and they need it now.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the EC Honourable members. Let us keep in mind here the situation that Israel's border with Lebanon continues to be explosive. Iran, that is Hamas patron, has continued to fuel regional tensions, for instance, with its support to haughty terrorists in Yemen. Just like we know, they keep fuelling Russia. And let me add that we are prepared to respond with additional sanctions in case Iran provides ballistic missiles to Russia, as recently reported. Without a sustainable cease fire, the contagion of the Gaza war could spread across the region. This is a time to redouble our efforts together with the member states, so that the hostages can get home and the people of Gaza can get not only humanitarian relief, but also a ray of hope towards a two state solution.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the EC Honourable Members, the second topic I would like to address is enlargement with a focus on the Western Balkans. In these years we have shifted gears that it is not enough to just wait for the Western Balkans to move closer to us. It is not enough to say that the door is open. We must also take responsibility and support their path towards our union in any possible way. This is why we have created our growth plan for the negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, and this is why we have committed to doing the same with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today, we, the College, are presenting a report on Bosnia and Herzegovina and the progress. It is a factual analysis of the latest developments and it draws a very clear picture. Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken impressive steps forward. More progress has been achieved in just over a year than in a whole decade.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the EC 'First, Bosnia and Herzegovina is now fully aligned with our foreign and security policy, which is crucial in these times of geopolitical turmoil. Second, the country is adopting important laws such as the prevention of conflict of interest. It has been stalled for seven years. Now it is adopted and the anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing. Third, the management of migration flows continues to improve, with negotiations on a Frontex agreement now ready to begin after the presidency endorsed the negotiating framework. Fourth, the Ministry of Justice records the judgements of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the EC And fifth on Dialogue and Reconciliation, a new Peacebuilding Steering Committee has just become operational. Of course, more progress is necessary to join our union. But the country is showing that it can deliver on its membership criteria and on its citizens aspirations to be part of our family. This is the good news, it comes now. This is the reason that we will decide to recommend to the Council to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. So the message coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina is clear. Must be clear to the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina lies in our union. Thank you very much and long live Europe.