EU aiming to revive dialogue with Russia, claims Slovenian President

Ljubljana, May 26 (IANS) Over three years since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out and amid US President Donald Trump's pressure for peace, the EU is purportedly preparing to resume direct contact with Moscow, Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar has revealed.

The Slovenian President also expressed her concern with the bloc's growing military expenditure, which is impacting social welfare budgets of various member countries, according to her interview published on Monday in Politico’s Brussels Playbook newsletter, RT reported.

Basing her claim of resumption of dialogue on a recent conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a visit to Brussels, Musar opined that there should be a group of "wise men and women" to initiate “silent” diplomacy with Russia as a prelude.

The Slovenian leader claimed that she had raised the issue directly with von der Leyen, who reportedly responded that "they are working on that".

Von der Leyen was yet to confirm the prospect, RT said.

Since hostilities broke out, the EU has severed links with Russia and imposed sweeping sanctions, but the Slovenian leader admits this snapping of contact was one of the bloc's biggest “mistakes".

She also maintained that along with this, not engaging with member states such as Hungary and Slovakia – who are not on board with the anti-Russian policy, impacted the EU’s political standing.

The bloc must focus on being invited to future negotiations alongside the US, Russia, and Ukraine, she said.

Dialogue with Moscow remains necessary even if Ukraine peace talks have “not yet” produced results, while insisting that the EU pursue "dialogue, dialogue, dialogue", Musar contended.

On the increasing military spending, she said this should not come at the expense of social protection. "Every single country needs to be careful in that, not to minimise the social warfare," Musar said, adding that people were “afraid” of sacrificing social programmes for military spending.

As per RT, a number of EU states such as France, Germany, and Belgium have announced cuts to spending on social support programmes, citing budget deficits and rising debt, while EU Ambassadors approved a 150 billion euro ($169 billion) debt programme last week to provide for the bloc’s ongoing militarisation efforts.

The agreement will allow member states to bypass standard voting procedures in the European Parliament in order to take low-interest debt to spend on military equipment. Some EU states have reportedly indicated they could use the programme to provide additional military assistance to Kiev.

However, the Slovenian President condemned the ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine, which Moscow has termed "retaliatory".

"The brutal attack from Russia on Ukraine does not in any way pave the road toward a much needed peace. People continue to die. This is inexcusable. Slovenia stands in solidarity with Ukraine and remains determined as ever in supporting its sovereignty and territorial integrity. @SLOinUKR", she said in a post on X.

--IANS

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