Latest news with #AntónioCosta
Dubai Eye
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Dubai Eye
UAE, European Council Presidents reiterate call for Gaza ceasefire
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the leader of the European Council António Costa have emphasised the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza to enable the delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid. During a call, the two sides also called for intensified international efforts to advance progress towards a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution. They further underlined the importance of diplomacy and dialogue in resolving regional crises to maintain and safeguard regional and global security and stability. The call also explored various aspects of cooperation between the UAE and the European Union and its member states, and reviewed the ongoing negotiations towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the two sides.
TAG 91.1
6 hours ago
- Politics
- TAG 91.1
UAE, European Council Presidents reiterate call for Gaza ceasefire
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the leader of the European Council António Costa have emphasised the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza to enable the delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid. During a call, the two sides also called for intensified international efforts to advance progress towards a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution. They further underlined the importance of diplomacy and dialogue in resolving regional crises to maintain and safeguard regional and global security and stability. The call also explored various aspects of cooperation between the UAE and the European Union and its member states, and reviewed the ongoing negotiations towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the two sides.
Irish Times
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Thorny issues remain on EU leaders' table long after dinner plates are cleared
If you are not inside the room when the European Union's 27 leaders gather for a summit, there tends to be quite a bit of hanging around to be done. One question will always do the rounds among the waiting diplomats, officials and journalists: 'What time do you reckon they will wrap up?' The national leaders, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and former Portuguese prime minister António Costa, who is president of the European Council , got started just before noon on Thursday. The meeting of the council, which sets the big-picture policy direction of the EU, was pencilled in to last one day, though leaders were told to keep the early part of Friday free just in case things ran over. READ MORE The summit covered EU-US tariff negotiations , the wars in Gaza and Ukraine , proposed new sanctions on Russia , defence spending and migration policy. Details of what is going on in the leaders' room can be scant. There are a few short breaks where they leave to confer with advisers and diplomats. When the doors close, they will also keep officials updated with the odd WhatsApp message. Denmark's prime minister Mette Frederiksen speaks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a meeting at the European Council in Brussels on Thursday. Photograph: John Thys/AFP via Getty Images At about 8pm on Thursday word got around that things might wrap up in an hour or so, which would have been remarkably quick. The talk was that rather than stopping to eat, the leaders might power through with a view to getting out early. It wasn't to be. A dinner of smoked cottage cheese dumplings, duck leg confit and strawberry cheesecake was brought in and the discussions went on for several more hours. Leaders like the fact that Costa has been limiting the summits to a single day since he took over as chair last December. But sometimes a row actually needs to be had. The EU has been deferring contentious matters in an effort to keep a loose consensus intact. Taking decisions can be tough when each head of state or government has a veto. For instance, Hungary's far-right prime minister Viktor Orban has consistently blocked EU efforts to aid Ukraine in its war with Russia. He has also held up talks between Brussels and Kyiv about Ukraine joining the EU in the future. A showdown between Orban and the other leaders is overdue. Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof (L) and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban at the start of the EU leaders' Summit in Brussels on Thursday. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA The EU did take a leap forward on defence policy in the spring, which Costa and Von der Leyen can hold up as a win. A summit in March approved a plan to significantly increase military spending to deter the future threat from Russia, given the question mark over continued US defence support. The union can move quickly when it wants to and a crisis does focus minds. The discussion on Gaza on Thursday was short. There was a sense that entrenched positions would not be moved. Germany, Austria, Italy and Hungary oppose efforts by Ireland, Spain and others to sanction Israel, so the EU remains stuck. [ Pro-Israel countries to block Irish efforts to sanction Israel at EU summit Opens in new window ] European Council president António Costa: leaders like the fact that Costa has been limiting the summits to a single day since he took over as chair last December. Photograph:Other internal reforms have been talked about for years without movement. Proposals to build up a European capital market have gone nowhere because countries don't want to change their national rules around issues such as insolvency. Those close to Costa say he will have no problem presiding over crunch summits that run on. The Portuguese politician likes open-ended strategic discussions, rather than having leaders squabbling over the wording of a joint communique issued after each summit. Leaders spent a record five days and four nights hammering out an agreement on the Nice Treaty reforms in 2000. There is no need to hole up Taoiseach Micheál Martin, French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and the rest of them in Brussels for that long. However, the preference to get out of dodge after a single day means several thorny problems still remain on the EU leaders' table, long after the dinner plates have been cleared away.
CNBC
a day ago
- Business
- CNBC
Watch CNBC's full interview with EU Council President António Costa
EU Council President António Costa discusses EU-U.S. trade negotiations, European defense, the transatlantic alliance and more in an exclusive interview with CNBC's Silvia Amaro.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Situation in Gaza is ‘abhorrent and unbearable', Ursula von der Leyen says
The humanitarian situation facing Palestinian people inside Gaza is 'abhorrent and unbearable' and aid needs to be allowed into the territory immediately, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said. Speaking after a summit of EU leaders, Ms Von der Leyen said Israel needed to let aid flow into Gaza 'immediately and unimpeded'. European leaders remain divided on how best to put pressure on Israel to address the humanitarian conditions in Gaza. The European Union 's 27 leaders signed off on a joint statement deploring the 'dire' humanitarian situation in Gaza, caused by Israel's ongoing military campaign. The communique went on to criticise the 'unacceptable' number of civilians killed and the levels of starvation in the Palestinian enclave. READ MORE Negotiations at the EU summit did not bridge the significant difference of opinion in the room about pushing Israel to allow aid into Gaza. 'We cannot remain passive … The union cannot remain inactive,' António Costa, president of the European Council who chairs the summits, said afterwards. 'Nobody can ignore what we watch on TV and what we read in the press; the humanitarian situation in Gaza is completely unacceptable.' Spain , Ireland, Belgium , Slovenia and others want firmer action from the EU, which could include suspending a free trade deal with Israel, or putting sanctions on hardline Israeli ministers. Germany , Italy , Austria and others advocate for the bloc to continue to raise its concerns with Israel through diplomatic channels. Spain's left-wing prime minister Pedro Sánchez said the EU had put together 18 packages of economic sanctions targeting Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The fact the bloc's trade deal with Israel had not been suspended despite the 'genocide' in Gaza pointed to a double standard, he said. [ Israeli bond investors risk complicity in genocide, TD claims in letter to Central Bank governor Opens in new window ] Suspending the EU-Israel agreement would not improve the situation for Palestinian civilians, said Austrian chancellor Christian Stocker, who spoke with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the phone the day before the summit. 'The civilian population must not pay the price for Hamas terror. Netanyahu has pledged to step up all efforts in this direction so that humanitarian aid can be delivered,' he said. Renewed focus has been put on the EU's response to Israel's invasion of Gaza, which has levelled much of the besieged territory and killed more than 56,000 Palestinians. Several 'like-minded' European countries should move ahead on their own if the EU fails to agree to take action as a bloc, Slovenian prime minister Robert Golob said. 'It is high time that we do not show just solidarity, but we put some real pressure on the Israeli government,' Mr Golob said. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the refusal of some EU states to consider action against Israel to address the 'catastrophic' humanitarian crisis in Gaza was 'difficult to comprehend'. A recent EU review concluded Israel had committed human rights violations during its war in Gaza, leading to calls for the bloc to use what leverage it has to push Mr Netanyahu to change course. It is understood the EU's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas was asked to prepare options to take in response to the review to table at a meeting of foreign ministers next month. The summit also discussed the war in Ukraine , tariff negotiations involving the United States, the ceasefire between Iran and Israel and defence spending. [ AG says he cannot help on legal query over Shannon flights that may aid Israel's Gaza war Opens in new window ] Slovakia's populist prime minister Robert Fico threatened to withhold support for a further package of sanctions on Russia, which needs unanimous approval, if he did not get concessions on new EU proposals to phase out reliance on Russian gas. Separately, Hungary's far-right prime minister Viktor Orban said he would continue to block Ukraine moving forward in its bid to join the EU. Brussels started what will be years-long negotiations with Kyiv last June to consider accepting Ukraine into the 27-state bloc, but Hungary has since vetoed the process moving forward. Speaking before the summit, Mr Orban said he did not want Ukraine to advance into more detailed accession talks while it remained at war with Russia. 'If we integrate [Ukraine] into the European Union, we would integrate the war and we would not like to be together in a community with one country who is at war,' he said.
