French Presidentcalls for return of EUfood independence

PARIS (RIA Novosti): French President Emmanuel Macron called for the return of EU food independence and a reassessment of the European production strategy against the backdrop of events in Ukraine.
“We need to regain our food independence. The war in Ukraine has deeply destabilized food supply chains and world markets. We need to reassess our production strategy in order to protect our food sovereignty,” Macron said, speaking at the closing of a conference on the future of Europe at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Earlier, the French leader took the initiative to develop an urgent plan to mitigate the food crisis that the world may face against the background of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
Macron called for the creation of a new “European political community” that could accept Ukraine into its ranks.
Earlier, Macron said that the process of Ukraine ‘s accession to the European Union could take several years, even decades.
“Let’s be clear, the European Union cannot be the only means of structuring the European continent in the short term… It is necessary to create what I would call a “European political community”. This new European organization would allow European, democratic nations to find a new place for political cooperation, security cooperation, energy cooperation,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.
According to him, such a structure is needed in order to accept countries such as Ukraine, which are awaiting consideration of the application for European Union membership.
The world after the end of the Ukrainian conflict must be built at the negotiating table with the participation of both Russia and Ukraine, said Macron.
“Our responsibility is to achieve a ceasefire and prevent the conflict from spilling over to other parts of Europe. Tomorrow we will need to build peace, and I want to remind you that we must do this at the negotiating table with the participation of both Ukraine and Russia “, Macron said.
According to him, the terms of these negotiations will be determined by Ukraine and Russia, this should be done “without denying, excluding or humiliating any of the parties.”
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during her visit to Kiev in April, handed over to Volodymyr Zelensky a questionnaire to start negotiations on joining the European Union.
She stressed that the document being transferred is “the basis for discussions in the coming months.”