The European Political Community was formed in 2022, and its first meeting was on the 6th of October in the Czech capital Prague with the participation of 44 member states of the European Union and outside it as its official launch, and the announcement of the formation of this platform came in the midst of a growing conflict With Russia because of the war it has been waging on Ukraine since February 24.

The European Political Community is a new European platform, whose objective is political coordination on common security and economic challenges, and does not fall within the framework of traditional EU structures.

Although this gathering is not of an official nature, the meeting of the leaders of the 44 member states in Prague has been described as historic.

The leaders of the 27 member states of the European Union and 17 other European countries, including Britain and Turkey, participated in this meeting.

Objectives

The European Council has set out the group's main objectives in promoting political dialogue, addressing issues of common interest, and promoting security, stability and prosperity in Europe.

Among the objectives of forming this regional grouping is to expand the discussion of strategic issues towards other European partners, given that the current challenges are not confined to the European Union countries only.

On the agenda of the first meeting of the leaders of the group in the Czech capital were files of security and peace, security threats and crises facing Europe in the fields of energy, climate, economy and migration.

From a political perspective, and according to what is circulating in Europe, the main title of the Prague summit - which officially launched the European political group - was the enlarged Europe in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin after 7 months of war in Ukraine.

According to the European Union's foreign and security policy official, Josep Borrell, the summit's agenda was to isolate Russia in the international arena, and the possibility of searching for a new international order that would exclude it in the presence of Putin.

Macron speaks at a press conference in the Czech capital on the sidelines of the European leaders meeting (Reuters)

Foundation

The European Political Group is a translation of an idea launched by French President Emmanuel Macron on May 9, 2022, shortly after his re-election for a second term, in order to form a pan European image in light of the critical challenges facing the continent.

In a speech on the occasion of "Europe Day" at the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, Macron said he had a historic commitment to forming a new European organization that would provide European democracies a new space for cooperation in the areas of politics, security, energy, transport, investment, infrastructure and the movement of people.

In June 2022, Macron formally presented the proposal to create the group during a meeting of the European Council.

In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in July that the idea of ​​creating this European grouping was aimed at anti-Russian.

The idea presented by Macron during a speech to the European Parliament refers to the proposal of former French President Francois Mitterrand to create a European federation.

The Washington Post quoted analysts as saying that the French president's proposal stems from France's opposition to the enlargement of the European Union, and in 2019 Macron's government used its veto against the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia.

Several countries wishing to join the European Union fear that the purpose of this platform is to keep their requests to join the European Union pending indefinitely, while European officials stressed that the establishment of the political group will not be a substitute for its policy of expanding the European Union.

structuring

This European platform does not replace an existing organization, structure or path, and does not aim to create a new entity at this stage, according to what the President of the European Council Charles Michel said before the start of the group’s summit in Prague.

It was agreed that two summits of the group would be held each year, and the next summit would be held in the spring of 2023 in Moldova, to be followed by Spain and Britain.

Leaders of countries from outside the European Union, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (third from the right in the first row) and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (to the right of Erdogan) participated in the Prague Summit (Anadolu Agency)

Organic

Launched in Prague, the European Political Group brought together the 27 member states of the European Union, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

On the other hand, Russia and Belarus were excluded because of the war that the first launched against Ukraine and the second's support for it in this war.

Several member states of the European Political Community are seeking to join the European Union, including Ukraine, which was granted candidate country status in June 2022, as well as the Western Balkan countries (Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia), Georgia and Moldova.