Merkel hopeful of swift economic recovery at EU summit

European leaders gathered in Brussels Friday at the EU leaders' summit and dedicated a large part of the second day of discussions to the economic recovery plan for a post-pandemic Europe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed optimism that the economy could soon regain the ground it lost as a result of COVID.

"Chances for a swift economic recovery as well as for a quick return to pre-pandemic levels are relatively good," Merkel told reporters in Brussels on Friday. "However, this all depends on us doing everything to prevent a fourth wave of the pandemic, which would set us back again."

European Central Bank Chief Christine Lagarde told reporters on arrival that an agreement on fiscal and monetary policy was necessary "to encourage the recovery which is underway."

In the run-up to the summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had been touring European capitals formally launching the EU's collective pandemic recovery rescue package.

Heated talks on Russia, no summit agreed

Several leaders of frontline EU countries which share borders with Russia addressed the proposal put forward by Germany and France for an EU-Russia summit as they headed into Friday's talks.

The proposal for an EU summit with Russia comes on the heels of the meeting US President Joe Biden held with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16. Germany and France share concerns about being sidelined by Biden in the transatlantic dialogue with Russia.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters as she arrived Friday, "Different countries have different opinions," and while it was "a good initiative to have this kind of discussions, yesterday was not the right time."

The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaking in his native tongue was more blunt: "It would be a reward for aggressive behavior." He added, "destabilizing disinformation affects the entire EU."

The Russian state-run RIA news agency reported on Friday that Russia's Foreign Ministry said the EU was a hostage of "an aggressive minority" after the 27-nation bloc failed to agree to an EU-Russia summit due to objections from Poland and the Baltic states.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, said in a statement on Friday that it "regrets" the EU rejection of a proposed summit.

Leaders from countries near Russia's borders like Baltic states and Poland were not alone in voicing objections though. 

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he would not attend a summit with Putin because of the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 and Russia's failure to cooperate on the investigation. 

Nearly 300 people died when a BUK missile fired by Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine hit the plane in 2014, killing all on board, most of them Dutch citizens. 

However, Rutte was not against the presidents of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council, Charles Michel, meeting with Putin, saying only he refused to participate himself.

On Thursday, Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins told journalists, "The Kremlin understands power politics. The Kremlin does not understand free concessions as a sign of strength."

Disagreement over Hungary's new anti-LGBTQ education law

There was also discord Thursday over a new law in Hungary that bars LGBTQ content from being distributed in schools. 

Leaders of 17 EU nations signed on to a letter slamming "threats against fundamental rights, and in particular the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation."

Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, a French Member of the European Parliament and the parliament's Rapporteur on the rule of law in Hungary, told DW the idea of the law was to make sure people "only see the heterosexual way of living in a very conservative and rigid way".

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said on Friday that only Slovenia and Poland had sided with Hungary over the contentious law.

At the conclusion of the summit, Ursula von der Leyen described the conversations around the law as "very personal" and "emotional, because it is about people's lives."

"The new Hungarian law goes against our values," von der Leyen said.

Other matters on the agenda Thursday

Also on Thursday, Merkel said EU leaders agreed to grant Turkey €3 billion ($3.6 billion) in financial support for migrants there. Ankara however expressed dissatisfaction Friday with a critical statement about human rights and a lack of a customs treaty.

Other topics discussed in Brussels included Libya, Belarus, the Sahel and cybersecurity.

ar/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)