On 16th May 2022, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg travelled to Brussels for the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, and the planned sixth package of sanctions against Russia in response to it, were a central topic. The EU foreign ministers also welcomed Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to exchange views on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The war’s potential effects on the Western Balkan states were also an important discussion topic. The Council meeting also included an informal meeting with the foreign ministers from the Western Balkans.
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg pleaded for European unity in the EU’s approach to Russia. The measures of the sixth sanction package, which also includes an oil embargo, were therefore discussed in detail at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in order to achieve a united EU response. The common European objective is to make it clear to Russian leadership that the costs of this unprovoked war of aggression will remain high.
We are in a confrontational situation, but so far the European Union has so far managed to project an incredible image of unity and unity and we should strive to keep it that way,
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told the Foreign Affairs Council.
With regard to the Western Balkans, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg stressed the need to counter Russia’s destabilisation potential within the region. In his speech on behalf of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg therefore called for the opening of EU accession negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia as well as visa liberalisation for Kosovo.
It is our most essential geostrategic task to sustainably ensure that it is the European model of values and life that achieves a breakthrough and no other. There is no vacuum in politics. It is either our system of values, or one from outside,
concluded Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
