EU heads of state and government are meeting in Brussels today for a two-day summit to discuss Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, migration, security and defence, the economy and relations with China.

The Summit will begin at 1 p.m. (Greece time) with a working lunch of European leaders with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss Ukraine, but also European and global security issues, a few days before the NATO Summit in Vilnius. This meeting will be an opportunity to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between NATO and the EU.

European leaders are then expected to take stock of progress on European security and defence, a year after the Versailles Summit. “It is time to take stock of the situation and discuss ways to speed up our work in order to meet our commitments,” stresses European Council President Charles Michel in his letter of invitation to leaders.

Heads of state or government are expected to ask the Commission to submit a proposal for a European Defense Investment Program (EDIP) “to strengthen the capability and resilience of Europe’s defense industrial and technological base. They are also expected to call for progress in all areas of action on the delivery and joint procurement of munitions and missiles.

Next, European leaders will discuss the war in Ukraine and, as always, today, they are expected to talk via video conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“We will reaffirm our commitment to support Ukraine for as long as necessary, including through sustainable economic and military assistance,” says European Council President Charles Michel in the letter-invitation to European leaders.

Among other things, the “27” will discuss the need to rebuild Ukraine, in coordination with international partners, and the possibility of using Russia’s frozen assets for this purpose. The issue of preventing the circumvention of sanctions against Russia will also be discussed. In this context, the “27” are expected to welcome the approval of the 11th package of sanctions and call for the rapid completion of work to deal with circumvention of sanctions by third countries.

The immigration issue is one of the main topics of the Summit and will be discussed during the dinner.

“The recent tragic shipwreck in the Mediterranean, and the many lives lost, is a stark reminder of our need to continue working tirelessly on our European migration challenge,” said Council President Charles Michel. According to a European official, the issue of the tragic shipwrecks of migrants in the Mediterranean will be on the table, emphasizing that the source of these tragedies is people smuggling and a tougher approach is needed towards them. However, according to the same official, the highly controversial topic of search and rescue operations at sea is not expected to be discussed in depth.

Following the conclusions of the February Summit, the “27” are expected to examine mainly the external dimension of migration and the possibility of forming partnerships with third countries, such as the one being negotiated with Tunisia, in order to prevent the departure of migrants to the EU. According to a European official, the model used for Tunisia could potentially be considered for Egypt.

In addition, a group of nine member states want to put immigration management back on the table, with some “creative ideas”, but according to a European official “these ideas are not supported by everyone”. Among other things, this group of countries proposes the creation of partnerships with third countries on the model of the agreement with Turkey of 2016. However, the majority of member states consider that these “ideas” are not fully consistent with international law.

Regarding the internal aspects of migration and the agreement reached between the member states on June 8, on the two main pieces of legislation of the Pact on Asylum and Migration, a European official did not rule out the possibility that Hungary and Poland would protest the recent recourse to qualified majority voting.