Leaders of the European Union’s 27 member states are assembly for the second day of a summit on Friday to deal with the bloc’s inflation-hit financial system.
The primary day of the summit ended on a excessive be aware. The leaders agreed in Brussels on granting Ukraine and Moldova official standing as candidates for EU membership — a transfer hailed by European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen as “historic.”
However the show of help for Kyiv comes amid wider financial penalties of Russia’s conflict on Ukraine.
Russia blamed for financial woes
A spike in inflation and lagging financial development internationally has been blamed on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The West additionally accuses Moscow of “weaponizing” grain provides and pure fuel deliveries.
On Thursday, the European Fee stated fuel provide cuts from Russia affected a dozen EU international locations. Germany, which is closely reliant on Russian fuel, triggered the second part of an emergency fuel plan.
The squeeze of Russian oil is pressuring the EU to search out alternate options to forestall an power disaster.
Germany working into fuel provide points is prone to have EU-wide repercussions, Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo warned forward of Friday’s assembly.
“If Germany will get into hassle, it should even have an infinite affect on all different European international locations, together with our personal,” he stated.
Inflation excessive on the agenda
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Financial institution (ECB), is becoming a member of the EU leaders on Friday to deal with rising inflation and hovering costs.
In accordance with the EU stats company Eurostat, inflation within the 19-country eurozone is at a document excessive of 8.1%.
The ECB has pledged to lift rates of interest in July — for the primary time in additional than a decade — in a bid to curb inflation.
The European Fee additionally lower its financial development forecast for this yr from 4% that had been anticipated earlier than the conflict in Ukraine to 2.7%.
fb/kb (dpa, Reuters)