What’s in a Picture?
Starting with in the middle with European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen, and then clockwise: EU Council President Antônio Costa; Italian PM Giorgia Meloni; Dutch PM Dick Schoof; Denmark PM Mette Frederiksen; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz; French President Emmanuel Macron; Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez; British PM Keir Starmer; Polish PM Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
They met in a rush, foolishly trying to steal the thunder of tomorrow’s historic US-Russia negotiations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Out of these eleven leaders, the vast majority represent the failed, decadent and frankly outgoing Globalist-liberal establishment – I think only Meloni, Schoof and Rutte escape this characterization.
Meloni’s face caused great entertainment online, as many X user notices how miserable she looks to be in the low-quality group.
It surprises absolutely no-one that they didn’t arrive at any immediate courses of action: they are Eurocrats, they probably need a committee to appoint a subcommittee… maybe they can issue a strongly-worded letter.
In the Reuters report below – totally pro-European liberals – we learn that they discussed higher defense spending and remained divided on the possible deployment of peacekeepers to Ukraine to back up any peace deal.
Wait a minute: were they not going to create a whole new negotiating avenue, maybe even keep the war going? They wanted ‘a place at the table’. Now they had the whole table. But for what?
This summing-up seems very much like the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte advised yesterday: submit new ideas, increase defense spending dramatically.
The only idea that was commented outside the meeting was sending European ‘peacekeepers’ – UK and France are keen; Poland and Germany will not send.
[In fact, it doesn’t matter, because Russia will not accept EU troops, so far Chinese and Brazilian troops have been floated.]
Below are some Reuters quotes from European leaders after leaving the meeting at the Elysee Palace.
Scholz said: “Today’s informal meeting of European leaders was a vital first step in responding to that challenge on defense. […] We’re at the very early stage of the process.”
Poland’s Tusk: “This meeting also confirmed that our European partners realize that the time has come for a much greater ability for Europe to defend itself.”
Mette Frederiksen took a breather from the US threat to Greenland: “All Europeans have to step up when it comes to Ukraine, and at the same time step up defense spending at home, because Russia is threatening all of Europe now, unfortunately.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen: “Today in Paris we reaffirmed that Ukraine deserves peace through strength. Peace respectful of its independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, with strong security guarantees. Europe carries its full share of the military assistance to Ukraine. At the same time we need a surge in defense in Europe.”
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