As a follow-up to the arrangements made at the extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council meeting held in Zagreb on 6 March 2020, the foreign ministers discussed the situation in Turkey and Syria. Minister Jacek Czaputowicz stressed the importance of efforts to sustain a fragile truce in the region: “All actors must resume the UN-led negotiations.” In his view, only an enhanced collaboration within the EU to protect the Community’s external borders and cooperation with Turkey to fully implement the 2016 agreement can prevent a repeat of the 2015 migrant crisis. The Polish top diplomat also stressed that the EU needs a flexible approach to Ankara. He said: “Turkey remains our key NATO ally and a critical EU partner. So there can be no question of isolating it; we need dialogue to solve the problems in EU-Turkey relations.” The ministers also mentioned the ongoing arrangements concerning the new EU operation in the Mediterranean, IRINI, whose main purpose is to enforce embargo on arms supplies to Libya.   

When speaking about the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministers focused on coordinating consular assistance by EU member states to repatriate EU citizens, ensuring their transit through the EU territory, and maintaining the movement of goods and services. They also discussed actions to counter disinformation on the pandemic. Minister Jacek Czaputowicz presented efforts that Poland takes in the spirit of EU solidarity to bring citizens home, including its decision to open the “LOT do domu” (“LOT flies back home”) operation for citizens of other EU member states subject to seats availability. He also said that Poland agrees with a need to keep transit traffic moving across the territory of all EU member states to ensure the free movement of goods and services, and allowing transit of EU citizens returning to their countries. 

Another item on the agenda was disinformation. Foreign ministers agreed that we need to counter fake news relating to the EU’s response to the pandemic. The point is to develop a positive narrative on the effectiveness of EU measures. Minister Czaputowicz praised the work of the European External Action Service to assess information environment. “I share your view that Russia’s disinformation aims at sapping the EU’s capacity to communicate and act for our own good,” he added.

Minister Czaputowicz also underscored that the EU must take steps to alleviate the pandemic’s economic and political impact on the Community and on the whole international system by sustaining multilateral engagement. He went on to say: “It is of paramount importance to maintain the trust and cooperation of our closest partners.”

Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, replied to the intervention of Poland and the Czech Republic by declaring readiness to draft a joint EU-27 statement addressing Russia’s listing of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED) as an “undesirable organization.”

 

MFA Press Office

Photo Tymon Markowski / MFA