Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan pulled out of the gathering in Granada, Spain, at the last minute, robbing the summit of one of its key deliverables, an EU-brokered meeting with his Armenian counterpart to diffuse tensions in the Caucasus.
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00:00 Leaders of 45 European countries arriving in Granada, Spain, for the third meeting of
00:07 the so-called European political community.
00:11 The year-old format enables EU and non-EU countries to discuss the challenges they face
00:16 like security, energy, climate, enlargement and migration.
00:21 But while EU leaders are promising to maintain support for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky
00:26 asks for political unity from the whole continent.
00:30 The main challenge is what we have, that is to save unity in Europe.
00:35 And I`m speaking not only about the countries in EU, in all the Europe.
00:40 I think that is the biggest challenge what we`ll have, because Russia will attack by
00:45 information, disinformation, by fakes and et cetera.
00:50 The Granada summit is also aiming to give a large push towards EU enlargement.
00:55 Ukraine and Moldova would like to open accession talks by the end of the year, and six Western
01:00 Balkan candidate countries are also demanding a clear timeline.
01:04 Enlargement is always good for Europe.
01:05 It helps to provide us with security, helps to embed democracy and human rights, and also
01:12 helps the European economy to grow in the round.
01:14 So I think it`s really important that when we look at these questions, we don`t see them
01:18 just as a financial calculation.
01:20 Leaders were initially prepared to engage in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan after
01:24 Baku launched a military offensive in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
01:29 But Azerbaijan, together with Turkey, a key player in the region, rejected the invite
01:33 to Granada.
01:34 Baku says it is ready to negotiate with Yerevan, though.
01:38 The president of the European Council says the EU is interested in a stable caucus area
01:43 and demands guarantees from Azerbaijan not to escalate the conflict further.
01:48 I had a phone call two days ago with the president of Azerbaijan, and he made very clear that
01:53 they do not have to claim on Armenia.
01:55 It should be set in a very vocal way, I think, to make sure that there is the mutual recognition
02:01 for the total and integrity.
02:03 For many, the summit was a showcase for the lack of unity and minimal appetite for dialogue
02:08 in Europe.
02:11 But this summit has left the European political community in a state of shortage.
02:15 Two major absences, the one of the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the one of
02:18 the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have decaffeinated the long-awaited meeting
02:22 with the leaders of France, Germany and the European Council, together with Armenia, to
02:27 achieve to stabilize the situation in the Caucasus.
02:30 In addition, another disappointment, especially for journalists, has been the departure of
02:34 the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, just after the plenary session, which
02:38 has forced the organizers to cancel the press conference.
02:42 Aida Sanchez, Euronews, Granada.
02:43 [WHOOSH]