The rapid spread of Omicron across Europe and beyond has heightened the urgency of an EU conference scheduled for Thursday, with leaders attempting to show a cohesive, bloc-wide approach.
Projections that the altered and highly contagious Covid strain could become prevalent in the EU as soon as next month have pushed the problem to the forefront of the agenda and sparked worries of a public health crisis. Other major issues occupying EU capitals, such as Russia’s military build-up, which could presage an invasion of Ukraine, will be discussed during the summit.
This was the focus of a meeting between EU leaders and their eastern European counterparts on Wednesday, which included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The high-level talks are rounded out by an ongoing dispute with Belarus over migratory flows that are straining the EU’s borders, as well as rising energy prices that are exacerbating already-high inflation.
All of this adds up to a tense summit, the last before France takes up the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union from Slovenia in the new year.
