Macron welcomes EU leaders for Ukraine crisis talks at the famous Versailles Palace. EU leaders gathered at Versailles for a two-day summit starting Thursday on how to address Russia's invasion of Ukraine amid calls from Kyiv for a fast-tracked path to membership in the European bloc.
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EU leaders doused Ukraine's hopes gaining membership of the European Union quickly on Thursday, as they met to urgently address the fallout of the Russia's invasion.
The meeting at the palace of Versailles was set to be the high point of France's six-month EU presidency, but President Emmanuel Macron is instead leading a crisis summit following Russian leader Vladimir Putin's brutal disruption of decades of stability in Europe.
The Ukraine war and the EU's energy supply were to dominate the two-day meeting, with leaders sitting down for dinner in the same Hall of Mirrors where Western allies carved out a new map of Europe in 1919 after World War I.
"Europe will change even faster and stronger with the war (in Ukraine)", Macron said as he greeted his counterparts at the former residence of France's Sun King, Louis XIV.
The 27 heads of state and government met as fighting raged for a 15th day in Ukraine, with an outcry over the bombing of a maternity hospital in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as a Russian "war crime". Moscow denied carrying it out, calling it a "staged provocation" by Ukraine.
Macron dubbed it a "disgraceful act of war", with leaders from across the bloc condemning the atrocity and Spain calling it a "war crime" that demanded punishment.
The conflict has seen a swell of support in the EU for Ukrainian President Zelensky, but leaders used the talks to reiterate that a speedy track to membership was impossible.
"There is no such thing as a fast track," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said as he arrived for the talks.
"I want to focus on what can we do for Volodymyr Zelensky tonight, tomorrow, and EU accession of Ukraine is something for the long term, if at all," he added.
Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel warned against giving Kyiv the impression that "everything can happen overnight".
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The Palace of Versailles - Château de Versailles is a former royal residence located in Versailles, about 12 miles (19 km) west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and has since 1995 been managed, under the direction of the French Ministry of Culture, by the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles.[2] 15,000,000 people visit the Palace, Park, or Gardens of Versailles every year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.[3] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of paying visitors to the Chateau dropped by 75 percent from eight million in 2019 to two million in 2020. The drop was particularly sharp among foreign visitors, who account for eighty percent of paying visitors.[4]
Louis XIII built a simple hunting lodge on the site of the Palace of Versailles in 1623 and replaced it with a small château in 1631–34. Louis XIV expanded the château into a palace in several phases from 1661 to 1715. It was a favorite residence for both kings, and in 1682, Louis XIV moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the de facto capital of France. This state of affairs was continued by Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, who primarily made interior alterations to the palace, but in 1789 the royal family and capital of France returned to Paris. For the rest of the French Revolution, the Palace of Versailles was largely abandoned and emptied of its contents, and the population of the surrounding city plummeted.
Napoleon Bonaparte, following his takeover of France, used Versailles as a summer residence from 1810 to 1814, but did not restore it. When the French Monarchy was restored, it remained in Paris and it was not until the 1830s that meaningful repairs were made to the palace. A museum of French history was installed within it, replacing the apartments of the southern wing.
The palace and park were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979 for its importance as the center of power, art, and science in France during the 17th and 18th centuries.[5] The French Ministry of Culture has placed the palace, its gardens, and some of its subsidiary structures on its list of culturally significant monuments.
The Palace of Versailles is an opulent complex and former royal residence outside of Paris. It has held sway in the public imagination for years because of its architectural grandeur and political history.
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