Europe looks to build bridges beyond Russia

THE new European Political Community (EPC) of almost 50 nations has generated much media interest since its formation in 2022, yet its fundamental economic and geopolitical purpose remains unclear in what is an already crowded continental institutional landscape.

Amid the massive, shared economic and political challenges facing the presidents and prime ministers when they convene in Moldova on Thursday (Jun 1), it is still uncertain whether the new “club of nations” will be a significant moment in Europe’s decades-long integration project. Or perhaps it will be little more than a footnote in history.

These core questions of mandate and relevance will be tackled again this week as 47 leaders from greater Europe, plus those from countries including Israel and Turkey, meet in the Eastern European nation of Moldova. Odessa in Ukraine is only 200 km from the summit venue in Chisinau, and it is therefore fitting that the ongoing Russian invasion of that nation will frame the discussion, with a possibility that President Volodymyr Zelensky may attend, given his recent rounds of shuttle diplomacy.