Brussels -- European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has said that the crisis in Ukraine has become the gravest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War.
“The invasion of Crimea, last March, marked a turning point. Of course, there were momentous events taking place in Ukraine before that, and there still are – but that was the watershed. When you tamper with borders, you tamper with peace,” he said at the Lincean National in Rome on Nov. 7.
Van Rompuy recalled that in early March, he called an emergency meeting on Ukraine to set out the response of the European Union, which concerned the deepening of relations with Ukraine, including through the Association Agreement, as well as three-staged sanctions against Russia to make it change its behavior.
“Ever since, we have remained faithful to that dual approach,” he said.
He recalled that the European Council deals with foreign affairs only when they become really political and may pose a threat to stability and security in Europe.
“And no doubt, under my successor Donald Tusk, this involvement of leaders with Ukraine will continue as long as necessary,” Van Rompuy said.
“The recent energy deal for the winter was a positive step. The acknowledgement, by Russia, of the so-called ‘elections’ in Donbas, a very negative one,” he added.
Van Rompuy remains the head of the European Council until the end of the month. On Dec. 1, his powers will be transferred to former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
