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Bloomberg
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Slovenia Calls on NATO to Expand Its Defense Spending Terms
Slovenia and several NATO member states are seeking ways to expand the definition of defense spending as they attempt to meet US calls to allocate more funds on security, the nation's prime minister said. Like-minded alliance members aim to establish a unified methodology on defense spending in the coming weeks and present the proposal to Mark Rutte, the alliance's secretary general, Slovenian Premier Robert Golob said in an interview on the sidelines of European Political Community summit in Albania on Friday.
16-05-2025
- Politics
European leaders agree with Trump that Russia's position on ceasefire talks is unacceptable
TIRANA, Albania -- European leaders have agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump that Russia's position in ceasefire talks is unacceptable and they intend to coordinate a response, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday. 'We just had a meeting with President Zelensky and then a phone call with President Trump to discuss the developments in the negotiations today, and the Russian position is clearly unacceptable,' Starmer told reporters. 'As a result of that meeting with President Zelensky, under discussion with President Trump, we are now closely aligning and coordinating our responses and will continue to do so,' he said, as European leaders held a summit in Albania. He said the decision with Trump was also agreed on with the leaders of France, Germany and Poland. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that his country is committed to ending the war with Russia but he urged dozens of European leaders to ramp up sanctions if President Vladimir Putin continues to play for time in talks aimed at securing a truce. Russia and Ukraine were holding their first direct peace talks in three years, in the Turkish port city of Istanbul, but officials and observers expected them to yield little immediate progress on stopping the more than three-year war. 'Ukraine is ready to take all realistic steps to end this war,' Zelenskyy told leaders gathered for a summit of the European Political Community. But he warned: 'If it turns out that the Russian delegation really is just theatrical and can't deliver any results today, the world must respond.' That reaction, he said, should include "sanctions against Russia's energy sector and banks.' British Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed his call, saying in a summit speech that 'Russia is dragging its feet and playing games.' 'We must be prepared to follow through because if Russia won't come to the negotiating table, Putin must pay the price,' he said, at the summit in the Albanian capital, Tirana. Zelenskyy's remarks came after Putin declined to attend face-to-face talks. 'I think Putin made a mistake by sending a low level delegation,' NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said as he arrived for the summit under a steady drizzle. 'The ball is clearly in his part of the field now, in his court. He has to play ball. He has to be serious about wanting peace," Rutte added. European Union foreign chief Kaja Kallas said Putin was 'playing games, which shows that they are not serious about peace.' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was clear that 'President Zelenskyy was ready to meet but President Putin never showed up, and this shows his true belief. So we will increase the pressure.' Von der Leyen said the EU is preparing a new package of sanctions. She said that the measures will target the shadow fleet of aging cargo vessels that Russia is using to bypass international sanctions and the Nord Stream pipeline consortium. Russia's financial sector would also be targeted, she said. EU envoys have been working on the new sanctions package for several weeks, and the bloc's foreign ministers could enact them as soon as Tuesday. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni stressed that efforts to reach a deal on Ukraine must continue. 'I think ... that we must not throw in the towel. I think we must insist, we must insist for an unconditional ceasefire and a serious peace agreement that includes guarantees of security for Ukraine,' she said. The theme of the summit in Tirana is 'New Europe in a new world: unity — cooperation — joint action.' The gathering of leaders from about 50 nations and organizations was also scheduled to address ways to improve the continent's competitiveness and tackle unauthorized migration. But the summit best serves as a setting for leaders to meet bilaterally, or in small groups, to weigh in on major security issues. The inaugural summit in Prague in 2022 saw the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia holding rare talks in an effort to ease tensions between the longtime adversaries. The last summit, hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ardent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, was dominated by the concerns and opportunities that might arise in the wake of Trump's reelection. The leaders arrived in Tirana's central Skanderbeg Square on a rainy morning and were greeted by a brief performance by dancers in folk costumes before heading into the temporary conference hall, set up at the foot of a monument to Albania's national hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu, or Skanderbeg, who fought against the Ottoman Empire. The summit comes after the governing Socialist Party of the host, Prime Minister Edi Rama, won Albania's May 11 parliamentary election, attracting voters who support the country's long and somewhat uphill effort to join the European Union. The vote secured a fourth term for Rama. The prime minister said that the summit is a point of pride for Albania, and an 'inspiration and motivation to continue further on.' His Socialist Party says it can deliver EU membership in five years. The EPC forum is Macron's brainchild, and was backed by former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, aiming to boost security and prosperity across the continent. But critics claimed it was an attempt by them to put the brakes on EU enlargement. The 2022 inaugural summit involved the EU's 27 member countries, aspiring partners in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as neighbors like the U.K. — the only country to have left the EU — and Turkey. Russia is the one major European power not invited, along with Belarus, its neighbor and supporter in the war with Ukraine. The next meeting will take place in Denmark later this year.
Bloomberg
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Slovenia Calls on NATO to Expand Its Defense Spending Definition
Slovenia and several NATO member states are seeking ways to expand the definition of defense spending as they attempt to meet US calls to allocate more funds on security, the nation's prime minister said. Like-minded alliance members aim to establish a unified methodology on defense spending in the coming weeks and present the proposal to Mark Rutte, the alliance's secretary general, Slovenian Premier Robert Golob in an interview on the sidelines of European Political Community summit in Albania on Friday.
Arab News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Putin ‘must pay the price for avoiding peace' in Ukraine: Britain's Starmer
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Russian President Vladimir Putin 'must pay the price for avoiding peace' ahead of a European Political Community meeting in Albania on Friday. 'Putin's tactics to dither and delay, while continuing to kill and cause bloodshed across Ukraine, intolerable,' Starmer said in a statement ahead of the summit, taking place the same day talks are expected between Ukraine and Russia in Turkiye.
Washington Post
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Albania's prime minister thanks voters for landslide win and pledges EU membership by 2030
TIRANA, Albania — Albania's prime minister on Wednesday thanked hundreds of thousands of voters who supported his Socialist Party in the last parliamentary elections , backing his pledge to take the country into the European Union in five years. Edi Rama , leader of the left-wing Socialist Party, held a celebratory rally in Tirana's main Skanderbeg Square. The event, attended by thousands of supporters waving Albanian and EU flags, took place in front of a big poster prepared for Friday's European Political Community summit, or EPC, a forum that gathers European leaders with the aim of boosting security and prosperity across the continent.
