The document only says that EU funds should be mobilized for “infrastructure” at the borders. Indirect financing of border fences is possible due to the agreement, Nehammer stated when asked shortly after three in the morning. According to him, the EU Commission has promised “substantial” support for border protection.
The EU leaders called on “the Commission to immediately mobilize significant EU funds to support Member States in strengthening border protection capacities and infrastructure, surveillance means, including aerial surveillance, and equipment,” according to the joint summit statement .
For Bulgaria, this means in concrete terms that it will receive commitments for personnel planning, vehicles, technical equipment and monitoring, Nehammer said. According to Nehammer, this would free up national budget funds that Bulgaria could then use to strengthen the border fence with Turkey. He had promoted new EU-financed fences at the external borders and demanded two billion euros for the expansion of border fortifications between EU member Bulgaria and Turkey alone.
Pilot projects at external borders
There is a commitment from the EU Commission for pilot projects in Bulgaria and Romania, he stated. According to Nehammer, the projects would be evaluated and later rolled out across Europe. Regarding the Austrian veto against the Schengen expansion, Nehammer said that the external border protection must be solved as a priority before one can talk about Schengen.
It was a “success of drilling hard boards” that even Luxembourg was willing to agree, said the Chancellor. Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel had previously spoken out against EU-financed border fences. The Federal Chancellor told journalists that never before had the issue of migration been discussed “so clearly and honestly” at a summit meeting.
Regarding financing, Nehammer referred to the forthcoming review of the EU budget. “There is now a new focus that needs to be developed further.” The EU budget already has funds earmarked for external border protection. It had been agreed that almost three billion euros would be made available for the implementation of the projects. After an evaluation, consideration should be given to where further funds can be raised or reallocated.
EU: More pressure on safe countries of origin
Specifically, the heads of government agreed on a final declaration aimed at preventing illegal entry or making it less attractive. This is to be done, among other things, through an intensified fight against people smugglers, more border protection and faster deportations.
The EU states agree that more pressure should be put on safe countries of origin that do not cooperate in taking back rejected asylum seekers. This should lead to more people without a right to stay leaving the EU, thereby relieving the sometimes heavily overburdened asylum systems. The EU states want to exert pressure, for example, with a tightened visa policy, trade policy and development aid, but at the same time opportunities for legal migration should also be created.
The number of asylum applications in 2022 rose by almost 50 percent to 924,000 compared to the previous year. In addition, there were around four million refugees from Ukraine who do not have to apply for asylum in the EU.
Schaidreiter (ORF) on the EU summit
EU correspondent Raffaela Schaidreiter reports on the current migration debate and further calls for arms from Zelensky at the EU summit.
Scholz sees “good solutions”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had previously blocked Community funds for “barbed wire fences and walls”. In Brussels, however, it is suspected that she is softening her attitude with regard to a possible second term after the 2024 European elections.
For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recalled the “excited debates about these issues in 2014 and 2015”, when one million people alone came to Germany against the background of the Syrian civil war. Now the EU has found “pragmatic, good, common solutions,” he said.
The summit also discussed Europe’s response to the US’ multi-billion dollar clean technology subsidy package. The heads of state and government demanded that state aid to industry in the EU should become “simpler, faster and more predictable”. In addition, von der Leyen’s authority should examine how “available funds and existing financing instruments can be fully mobilized”.
Zelenskyj’s visit outshines special summit
The summit was outshone by the visit of the Ukrainian President Selenskyj. After addressing the members of the EU Parliament with a combative acceptance speech, Zelenskyj spoke at the meeting of the 27 heads of state and government about further arms deliveries and Ukraine’s accession prospects.
He has already received positive signals from some EU countries, he said at a press conference with EU Council President Michel and Commission President von der Leyen. Zelenskyj made it clear that he could not come home empty-handed. Apparently he was successful with Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger. This promised the delivery of MiG-29 aircraft.
French President Emmanuel Macron said at the end of the summit that he did not expect fighter jet deliveries “in the coming weeks”. Scholz said fighter jets were “not a topic of conversation” for him.
Call for sanctions against drone and IT sectors
He also called on the EU heads of state and government to impose further sanctions on Russia. In particular, sanctions against the missile industry, the drone and the IT sector must be implemented, said the Ukrainian President.
Von der Leyen promised in this regard that the EU would target new sanctions against Russia “Putin’s propagandists”. In addition, the tenth package of sanctions that the EU is currently working on should include further export bans with a volume of more than ten billion euros.
Reluctance was shown in Brussels on the subject of EU accession. Von der Leyen attested that Ukraine had made “impressive” progress on the road to European integration. There is no “rigid schedule”. Ukraine wants to start negotiations on EU accession this year, but the 27 member states must decide unanimously on this.
Historical visit
Finally, Selenskyj also met the Belgian King Philippe, to whom he presented a fragment of a Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet shot down in Ukraine, as the royal palace announced on Twitter in the evening.
Zelenskyj’s trip abroad is only the second since the Russian invasion on February 24 last year. In December he was in the USA after a stopover in Poland. Zelenskyj’s current journey began on Wednesday in Great Britain, where he also met Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles III. met. In the evening, a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Scholz was on the program in Paris.
