On the eve of the European summit which aimed to discuss the strategy to be adopted vis-à-vis Russia, Europe was the target of what Charles Michel describes as "an absolutely unacceptable, shocking, scandalous provocation" from Belarus, proof further that "democracies are constantly tested by autocratic regimes".

The President of the European Council is pleased that Europe "was able in a few moments to react with one voice with a solid package of additional sanctions" and that "very quickly the United States and Great Britain followed the position European Union and have shown the same firmness ", with a common objective of" continuing to defend firmly the fundamental values ​​"of Europe, because" one could not imagine that there would not be an answer to the height of gravity ".

Read also on France 24 >>> Faced with Belarus, what response from the European Union?

Asked about the impact of the sanctions on the Belarusian people, he confirms that the European Union wishes "to give the population the ability to strengthen ties, and we have decided to mobilize financial means to support civil societies, while the economic sanctions are targeted towards the regime ".

The EU's response to the health crisis

The European Union has been put to the test by the Covid-19 epidemic, but Charles Michel assures us that "this crisis has also strengthened European unity" which "was able to quickly take important decisions at a time when, already before the Covid-19 crisis, we knew that we had to change the economic and social paradigm in Europe ". 

The President of the Council recalls that in the field of vaccines, it is important "to put oneself in order at European level and that, this summer, we can gradually resume a less abnormal and more and more normal life", also thanks to a rapid implementation of the health certificate, which is "an element in regaining more freedom in Europe and in the world".

Even if he recognizes that the Union has "started a little more slowly" its vaccination campaign, he reiterates his pride that the 27 have played a "virtuous role" because "it is the European Union which considered that the 'we had to invest massively in research, which was the initiator of the Covax system which guarantees that all countries, including those that are less developed, have access to doses. "

Program prepared by Isabelle Romero, Céline Schmitt, Mathilde Bénézet and Perrine Desplats

See also on France 24 >>> Replay - European Summit: Emmanuel Macron speaks from Brussels

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