Mitsotakis: In Brussels for the Summit that will determine European officeholders

The European Council Meeting on June 27th and 28th will primarily focus on appointing the new President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission, and the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy.

During a Tuesday morning teleconference, six key negotiators (Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Donald Tusk, Olaf Scholz, Pedro Sanchez, Emmanuel Macron, and Mark Rutte) from the three major political groups (EPP, Socialists, and Liberals) reached a consensus. They agreed to propose Antonio Costa for President of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen for President of the European Commission, and Kaya Kalas for the position of EU High Representative for Foreign Policy.

This joint proposal has been communicated to the President of the European Council ahead of the EU leaders’ meeting, which starts Thursday midday and aims to finalize decisions that were not reached during the informal leaders’ discussion on June 17.

The leaders will also adopt the EU’s Strategic Agenda, setting the strategic direction for the next five years. This agenda includes enhancing European defense, addressing immigration comprehensively, EU enlargement, and boosting European competitiveness. Mitsotakis is expected to highlight the proposal he and Donald Tusk submitted to the Commission President for a joint European defense project, including a European air defense shield, funded by EU resources.

Additionally, the summit will address recent developments in the Middle East and Ukraine, with the latter’s EU accession talks having just received the official go-ahead at the Intergovernmental Conference in Luxembourg.

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