#EUFridays by JEF Hungary #35
Krisztina Paulik
Nov-18-2022
Missile strike in Poland, likely fired unintentionally by Ukrainian air forces
On Tuesday evening, a Russian-made missile killed two people in the Polish village of Przewodow. It was the first time when the territory of a NATO country was touched by the military events of the war in Ukraine. Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday that there was no signs that the attack was intentional. According to NATO, the missile was probably fired by the Ukrainian air forces, as the explosion occurred almost at the same time as the wave of missile attack on Ukrainian cities by Russia had begun. During the war in Ukraine, both Russian and Ukrainian forces used rockets made in Russia. Duda said that the rocket could fall accidentally to the territory of Poland while defending Ukraine from Russian missiles. Ukraine refused taking the responsibility for the missile strike, despite NATO’s opinion that Ukraine was trying to stop Russian attacks. NATO chief Jens Stolenberg also said that Russia should be considered as responsible because this accident would not have happened without the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Three new countries ready to join Schengen
The European Commission declared that Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania have completed all the necessary criteria to join the Schengen area. Ylva Johansson, the EU’s home affairs commissioner said: „It’s high time to say welcome.” Schengen ensures that cross-border travel could be possible without carrying a passport in the territory of the member states. Nowadays, 26 countries, including 22 EU member states belong to the Schengen area. Bulgaria and Romania have been waiting to be accepted as parts of the convention since they have joined the European Union. An enlarged Schengen area has many benefits for Europe. Effective police cooperation and protection of the external borders of Europe will make the continent safer. The participation of three new countries will reduce time lost during border controls, will ease creating new contacts between people and will expand the world’s largest area without internal border controls. The Justice and Home Affairs Council will vote on the admission of Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania on the 8th December 2022.
G20 summit in Indonesia, Russia’s aggression condemned „in strongest terms”
The Group of 20 summit took place in Bali, Indonesia on 15-16 November 2022. The theme of the conference was ’Recover Together, Recover Stronger’. The European Union was represented by Charles Michel, President of the European Council and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. One of the main topics of the G20 summit was the effect of Russia’s war in Ukraine on the world economy. The conference concluded with the leaders’ common declaration in which they made the condamnation of Russian aggression in Ukraine „in strongest terms”. Joko Widodo, Indonesian president and host of the G20 summit told a news conference that „this war has caused massive public suffering, and also jeopardizing the global economy that is still vulnerable from the pandemic, which also caused risks for food and energy crises, as well as financial crisis”. The participants of the conference have also discussed other topics as the role of digital transformation in sustainable development, healthy recovery and extensive Covid-19 immunisation, effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and functioning of food supply chains.
European Union increases its goal of cutting emissions
Frans Timmermans, Vice President of the European Commission announced at the COP27 conference in Sharm El Sheikh that the EU plans to update its plan of cutting emissions from 55% to 57% until 2030. This reduction is an element of the EU’s Fitfor55 plan, with the goal of make the Union carbon neutral by 2050. According to Frans Timmermans, this update of the Nationally Determined Contributions proves the commitment of the European Union to actions against climate change. He also added that „don't let anybody tell you, here or outside, that the EU is backtracking”. However, some campaigners against environmental issues declared that the decision is not radical enough to reach significant results.