by Dan Alexe “Russian aggression” in Ukraine and “cautious support” for the "peace plan" brokered by Angela Merkel and François Hollande: these were the formulas used by the president of the European Council Donald Tusk, a tone totally contrasting with the Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker’s conventional discourse. The winter Council (EU summit) was labeled “informal” from the beginning, but Donald Tusk’s first serious public performance, following Wednesday’s peace talks in Minsk with Putin’s participation, brought a change in tone unheard before. At the press conference following Thursday's summit in Brussels there was a clear discordance between the two major figures, Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk. The hawkish Pole Tusk, who had invited the Ukranian president Petro Poroshenko to the summit, without asking the other leaders, insisted that Putin’s good will was “limited”. Tusk also reminded that there were differences between member states concerning the crisis in Ukraine, and he also insisted on using the expression “ Russian aggression”. Tusk also said that the EU would give a "cautious support” to the peace plan negotiated by Angela Merkel and François Hollande, where Juncker blandly stated that he applauded Merkel’s initiative. Tusk also underlined that “the whole geopolitical state of Europe after 1989 is now at stake”. As for the other points on the agenda, mainly Greece, Jean-Claude Juncker remarked that the Greek government’s assurance that Athens was ready to accept 70% of the imposed rules of the bailout didn’t mean much. Juncker said: “we should see what are the 70% that the Greek government agrees with”. The European Union leaders have also debated "a range of steps to to combat terrorism", including exchanging airliner passenger manifests, tightening controls at the border and combating extremism on the Internet. "Europe is facing an unprecedented, diverse and serious terrorist threat," Gilles de Kerchove, the bloc's counter-terrorism coordinator, told EU member governments in a report last month. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, whose nation holds the EU's six-month revolving presidency, said Tuesday the often fractious members had reached broad consensus on what actions to take, and share the "strong will" to implement them. EU leaders have also considered a better coordination among existing institutions like Europol, Eurojust — the EU-wide agency of prosecutors, police and investigating magistrates — and the bloc's counter-terrorism coordinator.
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