Figel: If EU Doesn't Seek Peace Talks in Ukraine, It May Be Drawn into Conflict

Bratislava, 2 July (TASR) - The European Union (EU) appears to have lost interest in supporting peace talks between Russia and Ukraine while continuing to finance and support Ukraine, said former Slovak EU commissioner Jan Figel in an interview with TASR TV. With these two factors combined, he said, there's a risk that the EU's role could shift from that of a potential peacemaker to that of one of the parties to the conflict. According to Figel, a dialogue with Russia is one of the prerequisites for any new arrangement and resolution of the dispute, but EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is viewed as having no interest in engaging in this. Figel added that when European Council President Antonio Costa responded to the situation in Ukraine by saying that a communication channel should at least be tried or established, he was harshly criticised by Brussels itself, as well as by Berlin and Paris. This political signal points to the causes of the current state of affairs, in which the EU is playing a minimal role in the peace dialogue, he said. Concerning Ukraine's accession to the EU, Figel stated that the war should be ended before the country joins the bloc, noting that member states are committed under treaties to defend one another militarily. "That means that the war could be imported into the EU if we can't bring it to an end," he warned, recalling that in the case of the Western Balkan countries, the accession process has been under way for many years, and they shouldn't be sidelined. Figel also recalled his meeting with Pope Leo XIV and the Holy See's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on 30 May of this year, noting that the prospects for peace were among the topics discussed. "I share the same conviction that it's also our responsibility not only to speak about peace but to act in a way that will make it happen," he said. In connection with the upcoming anniversary of the arrival of the Saints Cyril and and Methodius on the territory of modern-day Slovakia in the 9th century, Figel said that they were also exceptionally capable diplomats, who came from the-then Eastern Roman Empire. "Yet they went to Rome in the west to seek approval for the liturgical books and language that they introduced. It's an example of the unity that Europe lacks today, and also of diplomacy, a certain skill, that is, not to live in conflict, but in unity," said Figel. jrg/df