BRUSSELS
The European Union (EU) experienced a series of challenging issues in 2023, including but not limited to irregular migration, support for Ukraine, the enlargement, and the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The EU welcomed 2023 with a corruption scandal in the European Parliament (EP).
The investigation into corruption, bribery and money laundering, in which Greek European lawmaker Eva Kaili, then one of the EP's vice presidents, was detained by the Belgian police in Brussels, quickly grew with the addition of new names affiliated with the EP. As part of the investigation, €1.5 million($1.67 million) in cash was seized during searches at separate locations.
However, all detainees were released on parole over time.
Though the incident initially caused significant repercussions within the union as the credibility of its institutions began to be questioned, it eventually disappeared from the union's agenda.
Support for Ukraine
The financial and military support to be given to Ukraine was one of the main issues on the EU's agenda throughout the year.
The support was symbolized by the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's visit to Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv on May 9 during Europe Day.
Many EU countries continued to send military equipment to Ukraine, including Leopard 2 tanks. This led the EU to focus on the urgent need to replenish their depleted ammunition stocks.
At the EU-Ukraine Summit held in Kyiv on Feb.3, the first time since the start of the war, the union reiterated its commitment to support Ukraine as long as it takes.
On March 8, EU countries agreed to purchase ammunition for Ukraine jointly.
Accordingly, the union launched a three-stage replenishment plan on March 20. Against this backdrop, it was decided that member countries would first provide support from their existing inventories, then go to joint purchasing and increase their production to provide 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine within 12 months.
However, EU countries needed help with the challenging agenda of implementing this plan. As the end of 2023 approaches, union officials remarked that the commitment to provide 1 million artillery shells by March 2024 could not be fulfilled.
In his statements during the year, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell repeatedly called on member countries to accelerate ammunition production.
On the other hand, the EU has provided training to some 34,000 Ukrainian troops to date. This figure is expected to reach 40,000 by the spring of 2024.
At the last EU Leaders Summit of the year, which took place on Dec.14, the union announced that it had decided to start accession negotiations with Ukraine. The decision, met with harsh opposition from Hungary, could only be taken after Prime Minister Victor Orban left the hall, the first such incident in an EU summit.
Migration
2022 was recorded as the year during which the union received irregular migration at an unprecedented level since the migration crisis in 2015. Some 330,000 irregulars entered the union in 2022, corresponding to a 64% increase compared to the previous year.
Against this background, the union, in 2023, has accelerated its efforts to find answers to how irregular migrants will be distributed or sent back among member states after they set foot on European soil.
EU leaders met in Brussels on Feb. 9-10 at an extraordinary summit with a particular migration agenda.
Leaders agreed to work in four areas: protecting external borders, increasing returns, burden sharing among member countries, and establishing closer relations with partner countries.
Moreover, the EU Commission initiated work to make progress on the Migration and Asylum Agreement, which has been discussed for years but has yet to be agreed upon owing to the different approaches of the member countries.
At the EU Interior Ministers Meeting in May, The rules stipulating the mandatory distribution of immigrants to each EU country per the "solidarity mechanism," or the payment of 20,000 euros for each immigrant that member states do not accept, were accepted by a qualified majority.
However, at the summit on June 30, EU leaders once again left the table without reaching an agreement on migration due to the opposition of Poland and Hungary.
On Dec. 20, it was announced that a temporary agreement was reached between member countries and the EP on the Immigration and asylum rules, and technical studies will continue until they are submitted for final approval by the member countries.
Natural disasters
Another agenda of the union was natural disasters. The largest fire recorded in the EU occurred in Greece. Rescue teams were dispatched to the disaster area through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
While many countries struggled with heat waves, others experienced heavy floods.
Enlargement
The issue of including new members in the EU was also on the agenda.
At the last summit, it was decided to start accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, while it was decided to give candidate status to Georgia.
Regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was declared that accession negotiations could be initiated after the necessary criteria were met.
A consensus was also reached on accelerating the accession process of the countries in the Western Balkans.
Israel-Palestine conflict
Following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that started on Oct. 7, the union had difficulty in coming up with a common stance in the face of Israel's attacks on Gaza, which became increasingly violent.
EU leaders, especially EU Commission President von der Leyen, frequently repeated that Israel has the right to defend itself while overlooking the loss of life and the increasingly worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.
However, this state of affairs caused reactions within the union itself. In the demonstrations in support of Palestine held in numerous European capitals, the union's attitude was harshly criticized.
EU leaders could not agree on the ceasefire call in the three summits they met after October 7.
In his statement after the summit, EU Council President Charles Michel stated that member states have different views regarding the pause in hostilities and said, "Some want a humanitarian pause while others want a humanitarian ceasefire," he said.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also stated that the majority wanted a ceasefire, but its nature needed to be understood.
