Outcome of the special European Council meeting

“We are pleased that EU leaders showed unity and agreed on sanctions against the Belarusian regime that has violently repressed peaceful protests following the fraudulent presidential elections,” Iratxe García, S&D Group President.

“It is also good news that leaders sent a strong message to Turkey demanding the respect for international law. We think there is still room to de-escalate tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, but Turkey must be willing to abide by the law as a starting point,” she added.

 EU leaders also talked about strengthening the EU’s resilience in light of the challenges resulting from the ongoing pandemic.

“Well, in order to face these challenges we must have an EU budget for the next seven years and the Recovery Fund available as soon as possible. However, the EU can only thrive if our values and principles are respected. We need an effective rule of law conditionality mechanism in the EU budget. The current position adopted by the Council lacks some crucial safeguards. I hope that the negotiations with the Parliament will start as soon as possible so that we can strengthen the weak proposal currently on the table,” she said.