The European Political Neighborhood is constructed for difficult instances

The author is prime minister of the Czech Republic, which at the moment holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union

On October 6, Prague Fortress hosted an unprecedented gathering of states to launch the European Political Neighborhood. The purpose of the brand new discussion board is easy: to carry collectively all of the nations of Europe, inside and outdoors the EU, with the intention to co-ordinate our response to important threats and to speed up the trail to prosperity.

From the start, the group was meant to be a typical area versatile sufficient to accommodate all European nations comfortably. We don’t want any new acronyms or any new secretariats. And the intention was to not arrange one other intergovernmental organisation.

What we do want is an inclusive strategy to options, quicker responses to issues and a spot for mediating dialogues between nations — no matter their membership in several, typically overlapping, golf equipment.

The format chosen was thus as broad as doable: one political chief from every nation was invited, along with the presidents of the European Fee and European Council. Area was intentionally left for bilateral and advert hoc conferences, with out the straitjacket of official resolutions.

Forty-four European nations, from Iceland to Azerbaijan, accepted the invitation, encompassing not simply the geographical extent of our continent but additionally the scope of the European civilisation. Solely the Russian and Belarusian regimes had been intentionally overlooked.

Europe is unusually united on necessary questions as we speak: the risk posed by Russia is so extreme that our different variations appear nearly petty. It was pure subsequently that the Prague agenda needs to be dominated by the warfare, with pledges to keep up assist for Ukraine and talks on the best way to return peace and stability to our continent.

However no much less necessary had been the debates on different urgent challenges to our prosperity and wellbeing, notably the hovering power costs which might be blighting the lives of European residents, in addition to affecting companies and public establishments.

Now we have seen a shift within the debate right here, with some options sketched with better readability than earlier than. It was notably pleasing to see discussions on power interconnectors within the North Sea and the Balkans and beefing up manufacturing capability with international locations comparable to Norway and Azerbaijan. There was additionally dialogue of assorted safety constructing and peace monitoring missions in locations of want.

The summit provided a chance for leaders of countries destined to stay collectively, however who often should not have a lot probability to speak. Furthermore, there have been a number of necessary conferences that promise to defuse and even unblock negotiations, notably the one attended by the leaders of Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Earlier than the Prague summit, the president of Turkey and prime minister of Armenia had not met head to head because the international locations agreed to enhance relations in 2009. That’s exactly the type of consequence that the EPC was designed to foster.

Along with European Fee president Ursula von der Leyen, I met Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey, to debate Turkish-EU relations in some element. A number of conferences centered on the state of affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

Denys Shmyhal, the prime minister of Ukraine, held quite a few conferences associated to financial and safety help, together with additional shipments of arms to his nation. I used to be additionally briefed a few profitable assembly between French president Emmanuel Macron and Liz Truss, the UK prime minister. Dozens of bilateral or trilateral conferences passed off through the summit, or on its margins.

It is a important juncture for Europe. However regardless of these pressures, the contributors displayed unity and a willingness to co-operate. I’m proud that the beginning of the EPC will likely be perpetually related to the capital of the Czech Republic. And I’m satisfied that the sceptics are mistaken to fret that it’s going to degenerate right into a mere speaking store anytime quickly. The problems Europe faces are too severe for that to be allowed to occur.

At a time of overlapping crises and ongoing challenges, we want an open platform able to accommodating totally different pursuits from throughout Europe. We search free dialogue that reinforces mutual understanding and helps us to refine our positions on essentially the most urgent problems with the day. The EPC is an area to just do that.