At More Informal EPC Summit In Tirana, EU Leaders Can 'Get Creative' On Ukraine

Leaders from across Europe will gather on May 16 on Skanderbeg Square in central Tirana for the European Political Community (EPC) summit. The EPC, an idea conceived by French President Emmanuel Macron as a direct response to the war in Ukraine, meets at the highest level twice a year with the host rotating between the 27 EU member states and the 20 non-EU countries.

Now it's Albania's turn, and the event will be something of a crowning achievement for Prime Minister Edi Rama. In power since 2013, he is already one of the most experienced operators in the room, and the meeting comes just five days after a general election in the Western Balkan republic in which his socialist party will finish on top yet again.

Brussels holds Rama in high esteem, with EU officials praising him for his diplomatic skills and sharp wit. A reflection of this is Albania's progress on joining the European Union. In less than a year it has opened a majority of the EU accession chapters and is set to open more by the end of this month.

What Is The European Political Community?

The EPC is not an EU vehicle, nor is it a substitute for EU membership as some EU hopefuls fear. Essentially it's a forum for talking shop that doesn't officially produce any concrete deliverables or a final communique; it has no permanent seat or secretariat.

While the media struggle to explain what sort of animal it is and what purpose it serves given there are so many other European institutions (such as the Council of Europe and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to name a few), leaders appear to love attending its summits.

This is largely because there is minimal official choreography compared to, for example, NATO and EU summits, which follow strict protocols. Sure, there's an opening ceremony, a plenary session, and a family photo. Leaders are then divided into three thematic roundtables focusing on security, competitiveness, and migration.

Most of the one-day gathering, however, will be devoted to various planned and spontaneous bilateral meetings that can quickly turn into larger meetings if needed. It happens without too many accredited aides and advisers, meaning a lot of diplomatic speed-dating and huddles in a nice setting with plenty to eat and drink. It offers "a little bit of freedom and creativity in their otherwise structured lives" as one diplomat put it to me.

EU Leaders Invited To EPC Summit

So far, no one's declined the invitation that went out to all European nations except Belarus, Russia, and the Vatican. The three presidents of the European Council, Commission, and Parliament will attend, as will NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

This will also be German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's first multilateral meeting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to show up even if it's not confirmed until the last minute, and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also expected to come, though he skipped some of the previous EPC summits.

At previous EPC summits, there was a political push to have Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders meet, often together with the French and German leaders, but no such attempt is expected this time around even though it can never be ruled out.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze is invited, as he was to the last one in Budapest in November. EU diplomats are keen to point out that the Tirana meeting is the EPC and not the EU, considering the latter imposed a policy not to engage with high-level Georgian officials after the contested Georgian parliamentary elections last October. If Kobakhidze shows up, it will be interesting to see how EU leaders react.

An Eye On Fico And Vucic

In a similar vein, it will be worth watching how leaders interact with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, both of whom attended the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, rubbing shoulders with Vladimir Putin.

Fico is largely isolated on the EU level even though no types of sanctions or punishment are in the making after his Moscow trip. Brussels warned Vucic not to make the journey to Russia, noting that as an official candidate country Serbia should align with the bloc's foreign policies.

Vucic looks set to get away with it though. A senior EU official confirmed at a background briefing ahead of the Tirana summit that Serbia will remain a candidate country and there's no consensus among member states to impose sanctions on the country.

The only consequence will be that Serbia won't advance on its EU accession path -- something that is rather moot anyway as the Balkan republic hasn't opened a single negotiating chapter in the past four years.

A Big Week For NATO

On May 14, the chiefs of defense of the military alliance's 32 members meet in Brussels for their last session before the NATO summit at The Hague next month.

Support for Ukraine and NATO missions, operations, and defense plans will all be top of the agenda.

On the same day but in the Turkish seaside resort of Antalya, Rutte will gather NATO foreign ministers for an informal two-day meeting.

The gathering is controversial given Turkey's repressive policies against the opposition, notably the recent jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.