EU Council President Antonio Costa

The new President of the EU Council, Antonio Costa, a former Prime Minister of Portugal, officially took office today, December 1, and his first step was to visit to Ukraine, which speaks volumes about his priorities in times so turbulent for the continent.

There is an opinion on the EU sidelines that the positive vibe of the experienced 63-year-old politician's relations with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and negotiating skills developed over nearly 40 years in politics will allow him to ensure an effective decision-making process at the EU level for at least the next 2.5 years.

During the visit, Costa gave Ukrinform an exclusive blitz interview, in which he spoke about the challenges facing unity in the EU, including against the background of Russia's escalation in Ukraine, the change of administration in the U.S., and other factors. The politician shared his view of Ukraine’s potential contribution to addressing EU’s vulnerabilities, and reflected on the meaning of peace.

WRONG TO BELIEVE THAT CEASEFIRE WILL AUTOMATICALLY BRING PEACE

- In your speech when taking over the post, you stated that peace in Ukraine must be based on international law, cannot mean capitulation and must not reward the aggressor. What else do you think Europe can do to achieve this goal?

- We are always to support Ukraine, to stand for Ukraine, in the financial dimension, political dimension, diplomatic dimension, and military dimension. And it is only up to Ukraine to determine when and how peace is possible.

Many wrongly believe that, if a ceasefire agreement is sealed, the peace will come automatically. I’d like to stress that what we need is a just and lasting peace. And only Ukraine has the capacity to define what “just” peace is to make sure that this peace lasts.

WE NEED TO DEVELOP THE EUROPEAN PILLAR OF NATO

- As for security on a more global level, you stated that the European Union must become more autonomous in the field of security and defense. What is your vision of this autonomy in the face of the current threats?

- We need to develop the European pillar of NATO. I think it would be a good contribution to the more balanced Transatlantic relations. As we all know, the United States has also other geopolitical priorities (besides Europe – ed.) so we have to rebalance burden sharing in our security and defense.

We will organize a brainstorming day with the EU leaders early February. I will invite to attend part of this meeting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and for the other part of the meeting – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer, both to contribute to our reflections.

UKRAINE’S CONTRIBUTION WILL BE VERY POSITIVE FOR EU COMPETITIVENESS

- Could Ukraine contribute to addressing a few of the vulnerabilities in EU competitiveness mentioned in the Mario Draghi report, issued in September, if it becomes member, including in terms of natural resources, agriculture, energy, hi tech, and, of course, defense?

- …And also, high-skilled labor force. In all of those domains, Ukraine’s contribution, once it becomes a member state, will be very positive for the EU competitiveness.

AS TO THE POTENTIAL DEPLOYMENT OF TROOPS, EU HAS TO RESPECT DECISIONS OF MEMBER STATES

- What is the overall feeling in Brussels about the current stage of the war, which apparently is going global, with the involvement of North Korean troops. Emmanuel Macron championed the idea of eventually putting EU troops here in some capacity as part of security assistance to Ukraine, and one of the ideas being mulled in Washington is also about deploying European forces to ensure the truce along what now is a contact line. Are there any shifts being observed in leaders’ stance?

- This is not a discussion within the framework of the European Union. It is a discussion between different member states. And we need to respect the discussions and decisions that the member states have depending on their opinion.

THROUGH SANCTIONS, EU SEEKS TO DECREASE RUSSIA’S CAPACITY TO WAGE WAR

- The existing sanctions are weakening Russia’s economy but remain insufficient to prevent Moscow from further fueling its war effort. Do you think it’s high time to focus on Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers enabling them to profit off oil sales and also to finally sanction their nuclear industry that is also feeding the war machine?

- We are preparing a new, 15th package of sanctions. That means two things. First, we are able to improve the sanctions regime, and we have always been able to improve – because we started with the first set and now we’re going for the 15th package.

We are trying to close the loopholes that exist. We seek to be more effective and to strengthen the pressure on Russia’s economy to decrease their capacity to wage war.

EU MAKES COLLECTIVE DECISIONS DESPITE DIVERSITY BETWEEN 27 MEMBERS

- As a seasoned negotiator, with your intention to combine informal meetings with EU leaders and formal strategic discussions what do you think will be the main challenges facing you on the path of ensuring unity on key issues within the EU among all member states?

- We are now facing so many challenges that we have no luxury to define what the priority challenge is.

We have Ukraine, competitiveness, security, defense, migration, democracy. A whole lot. But my role, in fact, is not so difficult because the most important thing in the European Union is the common will to be together, to work together, and to deliver together.

When you look at the 27 member states, you see 27 different histories, 27 different cultures, people looking at the world from 27 different perspectives, including geographic ones.

The news is not about us not agreeing on something, the most important news is about us achieving collective decisions. We make these decisions in spite of this diversity.

- I can only wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. And thanks again for coming to Ukraine on day one of taking up your post.

- Thank you very much.

Ievgen Matiushenko, Kyiv

Photo: Pavlo Bahmut