No 949 Monday 12th - Sunday 18th December 2022
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SOUTHERN EUROPE LEADERS MEET IN ALICANTE
Nine European leaders took a common front against Putin’s energy blackmail when they met on Friday at the Ciudad de la Luz in Alicante. In a joint declaration they declared an urgent need to achieve a "dynamic and effective" drop in the price of gas. common front of southern Europe in the face of Putin’s energy blackmail, a situation aggravated by the war in Ukraine. This was the main conclusion that was drawn on Friday, after the EuroMediterranean summit held in Alicante. The heads of state of nine Mediterranean countries (Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia and Cyprus) all met at the Ciudad de la Luz, together with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, following which they issued a statement confirming the need to achieve a drop in the price of gas that is "effective and dynamic". They also spoke of the growing influence of the Mediterranean area in the European Union as a whole, the final point that they made following a day of intense discussions in Alicante. The day began with a definitive push for an agreement on the construction of what will be the first major European green hydrogen corridor, made by the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez; his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, and the President of the European Commission. The group then moved to the Casa Mediterráneo, where the European leaders had lunch. At around 4:00 p.m., the participants made the short journey to Ciudad de la Luz where they held two further meetings. The initial gathering confirmed the common position toward the provision of solutions to the energy crisis that the war in Ukraine has caused this year.
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