Hello and welcome to EURACTIV’s EU Tweets of the Week.
Finland’s PM endures the big public Waiting, EU Council expansion arguments are grating
and Lithuania indulges a spot of Russia baiting.
Croatia's President Called 'Rudest And Possibly Most Stupid Man Alive' After Making Finland's
PM Wait For Meeting bellowed Le Chou on Tuesday.
But the jury was split on whether leaving Marin Sana to wander around and look at art
for two whole minutes was actually a power play or protocol?
Jan Smit declared: Marin rocks!
She takes it with a smile and does what she wants
Klärchen said it gave her the chance to look super regal for 2 whole minutes.
One nil.
Charles Bergen speculated that at their lunch afterwards, Milanović insisted on splitting
the check.
Dick Pachinko reckons as time goes on, Milanović emanates more and more Trump energy.
But in Portugal she would have been greeted like this...
Armindo Chaves wondered whether Milanović went to take an urgent pee!!!...
But Mirko Skojot was not impressed!
“Two minutes??
Did you say two minutes??
Not 3 or 4??
Or maybe 5 minutes??
Poor baby, such a long waiting time.”
Oskar Jaeger also thought everyone should get a grip!
Two MINUTES?
just walking around, looking at pictures FFS it's not like it was two hours or something.
And Sanna herself put The Great Waiting in perspective:
"I want to focus on the issues, two minutes of my life is not a long time."
You said it!
Meanwhile back in Brussels , it’s European Council week and top for the agenda is EU
expansion, Ukraine and the Western Balkans.
The latter was the first item on the agenda.
Viktor Orbán’s mouthpiece tweeted that it was time for the EU to realise it cannot
succeed without the Western Balkans.
It is first and foremost in our own interest to speed up their EU accession process.
Uh… since when did Viktor Orban care about the collective EU interest!?
Did I miss a memo?
Others showing unexpected solidarity: the Prime Ministers of Albania, Montenegro, and
North Macedonia who supported granting EU candidate status to Ukraine.
That’s one in the eye for Olaf Scholz who had claimed that an EU shortcut for Ukraine
would be unfair to the Western Balkans' countries!
And Emmanuel Macron met with Vjosa Osmani, President of the Republic of Kosova, ahead
of the leaders’ Meeting
And just look at that body language...
Finally this week.
Lithuania found itself in the eye of the storm as it started implementing sanctions on goods
to Kaliningrad.
The problem is that some think it is going TOO far!
However as Dave Keating explained there are no specific “Kaliningrad sanctions” there
are sanctions on Russian goods entering EU territory, which they must do to get to Kaliningrad
by rail.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte was also quick to point out the mistake: Any
talk of a blockade of Kaliningrad is a lie.
Lithuania is complying with the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia for its aggression
and war against Ukraine.
It’s not a “blockade” of Kaliningrad, it’s a special transportation operation,
snarked Anna.
Putin responded as you might expect…
no not with an invitation to tea to talk about it, but with a threat of “negative consequences”.
Chess champ and human rights activist Garry Kasparov called for a clear statement from
the US and other NATO leaders that every inch of Lithuanian territory will be defended?
It's no longer hypothetical, he said.
I don't know if it's actually funny, but it's darkly ironic to hear Russians spluttering
about "precedent" and "international law" in reaction to news Lithuania will enforce
EU sanctions.
*Now* they care about precedent, international law?
Tweeted Anne Applebaum.
That’s it for this week, join me again next Friday for more snarks and larks in the Brussels
Bubble Twittersphere.