EU leaders meet in Albania to discuss security against Russia-Ukraine war backdrop
Published: 16 May. 2025, 20:33
![Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, left, welcomes Germany's Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a summit where the leaders of 47 European countries and organizations will discuss security, defense and democratic standards against the backdrop of Russia's war on Ukraine, in Tirana, Albania, May 16. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/16/49195e33-820e-4e21-8e38-8cf9ca601535.jpg)
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, left, welcomes Germany's Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a summit where the leaders of 47 European countries and organizations will discuss security, defense and democratic standards against the backdrop of Russia's war on Ukraine, in Tirana, Albania, May 16. [AP/YONHAP]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined the leaders of dozens of European countries and organizations for a one-day summit in Albania's capital on Friday to discuss security and defense challenges across the continent, with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine at the top of the agenda.
On the eve of the summit in Tirana, Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Zelensky to meet face-to-face in Turkey to try to secure a ceasefire with Moscow, sending a low-level delegation instead.
“I think Putin made a mistake by sending a low-level delegation with this historian leading the delegation, who was also there in the talks in 2022,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said as he arrived for the summit under a steady drizzle.
“The ball is clearly in his part of the field now, in his court. He has to play ball. He has to be serious about wanting peace. So I think all the pressure is now on Putin,” Rutte added.
European Union foreign chief Kaja Kallas said Putin was “playing games, which shows that they are not serious about peace.”
The theme of the European Political Community , or EPC, summit in Tirana is “New Europe in a new world: unity — cooperation — joint action.” The gathering of leaders from about 50 nations and organizations will also address ways to improve the continent’s competitiveness and tackle unauthorized migration.
But the EPC will also be a setting for leaders to meet bilaterally, or in small groups, to weigh in on major security issues. The inaugural summit in Prague in 2022 saw the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia holding rare talks in an effort to ease tensions between the longtime adversaries.
Last weekend, Zelensky hosted French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Kyiv, where they made a joint call for a 30-day end to hostilities.
“As Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues, its consequences stretch far beyond Ukraine’s borders, straining our security and testing our collective resilience,” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and European Council President Antonio Costa wrote in their EPC summit invitation letter.
The last summit, hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an ardent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, was dominated by the concerns and opportunities that might arise in the wake of Trump's re-election.
The leaders arrived in Tirana’s central Skanderbeg Square on a rainy morning and were to be greeted by a brief performance by dancers in folk costumes before heading into the temporary conference hall, set up at the foot of a monument to Albania's national hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu, or Skanderbeg, who fought against the Ottoman Empire.
![Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama applauds to his supporters during a celebratory rally for his Socialist Party victory in the last parliamentary elections, in Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, May 14. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/16/a45ca789-db31-4dae-bfc5-bc4f9c033a2b.jpg)
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama applauds to his supporters during a celebratory rally for his Socialist Party victory in the last parliamentary elections, in Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, May 14. [AP/YONHAP]
Rama's governing Socialist Party won Albania’s May 11 parliamentary election, attracting voters who support the country’s long and somewhat uphill effort to join the European Union. The vote secured a fourth term for Rama.
The prime minister said that the summit is a point of pride for Albania, and an “inspiration and motivation to continue further on.”
His Socialist Party says it can deliver EU membership in five years.
The EPC forum is Macron's brainchild, and was backed by former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, aiming to boost security and prosperity across the continent. But critics claimed it was an attempt by them to put the brakes on EU enlargement.
The 2022 inaugural summit involved the EU's 27 member countries, aspiring partners in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as neighbors like Britain — the only country to have left the EU — and Turkey.
Russia is the one major European power not invited, along with Belarus, its neighbor and supporter in the war with Ukraine.
The next EPC meeting will take place in Denmark later this year.
AP
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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