European leaders and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meet this Monday, May 4, in Armenia for a summit of the European Political Community focused on security and geopolitical tensions, against a backdrop of growing uncertainty about US policy under President Donald Trump. The talks in Yerevan take place amid the tense truce in Iran following the attacks launched by the US and Israel against Tehran, the war in Ukraine and changes in transatlantic relations.
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European leaders and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meet this Monday in Armenia with the aim of navigating a tense geopolitical environment under an unpredictable White House.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, will have a great influence on the meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) being held in Yerevan, a crossroads between Russia and the Middle East, the two main topics on the agenda.
"Leaders from across the continent, with Canada as a guest, will discuss how to cooperate to strengthen security and collective resilience," European Council President Antonio Costa wrote on social media upon his arrival in the Armenian capital on Sunday.
The Iran war, which has shaken the global economy by skyrocketing energy prices, deepened rifts in transatlantic relations.
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Following a dispute between Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had criticized Washington's handling of the conflict, the United States announced that it would withdraw 5,000 American troops from Germany.
This has raised questions about the United States' commitment to defending its European allies, as Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine enters its fifth year.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, also traveled to Yerevan, while Merz will be represented by the Frenchman Emmanuel Macron.
Read alsoTrump considers reducing US troops in Germany: how likely is it that he will carry out the threat?
"A 360 degree challenge"
They will be joined by Canadian Carney, the first non-European leader to participate in the European Foreign Policy Council talks, a sign of the increasingly closer ties between Ottawa and Europe fostered by Trump.
The summit "in short, will be an opportunity to underline that Europe's security is a 360-degree challenge," said a senior EU official.
Like Europe, Canada's economy has been hurt by Trump's tariffs, but Carney has remained defiant, emerging as something of a poster child for countries seeking to stand up to the Republican president.
In an emotional speech earlier this year, he urged middle powers to join forces in the face of a new global reality defined by great power competition and a rules-based order that is "fading."
"The CPE was initially perceived as an anti-Putin club (...) With the invitation to Canada, this initiative - which was initially driven by geographical reasons - is now acquiring an anti-Trump bias," said Sébastien Maillard, special advisor at the Jacques Delors Institute, a think tank.
In a bid to diversify its relations beyond its southern neighbor, Ottawa has joined the EU's defense financing plan — becoming the first non-European country to do so — and has sought to increase cooperation on trade.
"Canada has a way of seeing the world and addressing current challenges that Europe largely shares," said the EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Read alsoThe summit of the European Political Community welcomes Mark Carney and challenges Trump
"Reorientation"
The CPE, a biannual political forum, was created at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron in 2022 in response to the invasion of Ukraine. It brings together the members of the European Union and, on this occasion, 21 other countries, from Albania to the United Kingdom.
CPE summits do not usually conclude with concrete decisions, but they offer leaders the opportunity to exchange views in groups and bilaterally, as occurred at an informal dinner on Sunday attended by most of the summit authorities.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected to join the meeting on Monday, Madrid reported, after a technical problem with his plane forced him to make an emergency landing in Turkey and spend the night in Ankara.
The Yerevan meeting is the first of its kind in the Caucasus and comes as Armenia fosters closer ties with Europe while seeking to cautiously distance itself from Russia's influence.
This meeting will be followed on Tuesday by an EU-Armenia summit with the bloc's main officials, including Costa and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who described the occasion as an "important milestone" in the country's rapprochement with Europe.
Relations between Yerevan and its traditional ally, Moscow, have become strained in recent years, in part because Russian peacekeepers failed to intervene during military conflicts with neighboring Azerbaijan.
Under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Armenia has officially pursued what he calls a "diversification" strategy, in which the landlocked country seeks to establish ties with both Russia and the West.
Costa says the bloc hopes to "deepen this relationship" with the country of three million people, which signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with the EU in 2017 and last year declared its intention to apply for membership.
In April, the EU established a mission to help the former Soviet republic confront foreign interference, amid suspicions that Russia is carrying out a disinformation campaign ahead of June elections.
Putin has declared himself "totally calm" about Armenia's openings towards Europe, while warning that belonging to both the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union, led by Russia, is "simply impossible."
Read alsoThe European Union announces 270 million euros of aid to Armenia, a former ally of Russia
With AFP
This article was adapted from its original English version.
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