Bildt on Ukraine and MH17: Europe woke up today
Sweden Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was pretty sour on the way into this meeting of EU foreign ministers. He has been an ally of Britain, wanting Europe to move to full-blown trade sanctions. At the end of the meeting I asked him if Europe had, as President Barack Obama said it should, woken up. He said it had and dismissed any suggestion this was more procrastination.
Certainly the communique hardened considerably from the draft around on Monday. The Dutch foreign minister, Frans Timmermans, spoke to fellow ministers first after they had observed a minute’s silence. He said he knew seven people on the flight. He said Russian backed separatists might be tampering with the evidence at the crash site. Ministers were warned of the long weeks of funeral services that would occur through the summer.
Read more: where will the EU draw the line in Ukraine?
The centre of gravity in the room moved after dead-locked inertia, tiny movements and lowest common denominator communiques. Europe has now signed up to discussing real trade sanctions, though that does not mean they’re sure to go ahead.
A day of constant meeting in Council building in Brussels. But progress on policy on all issues under consideration. pic.twitter.com/RyJXeCyOwM
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) July 22, 2014
Philip Hammond at his first foreign ministers summit spoke cautiously of progress. One Whitehall source refused to commit whether the chances of real trade sanctions were now better than 50-50.
Read more: flight MH17 – Putin tacks to restrain EU
There’s worry still that Russia President Vladimir Putin will try to play the EU. He might suddenly free up access to the crash site. It would be harder, sources in Whitehall think, for him to withdraw armed forces and military equipment from eastern Ukraine in a hurry.
EU ambassadors will meet on Thursday and may sign off on the sanctions, though some dispute whether they have the status to do that. If not, it could be another foreign ministers meeting. There was even talk of getting EU government leaders back but that is said to be unlikely.
Follow @GaryGibbonBlog on Twitter.