2026 wish list: Ukraine 4 EU – POLITICO

POLITICO’s must-read briefing on what’s driving the day in Brussels, by Gerardo Fortuna and Nicholas Vinocur. By GERARDO FORTUNA CIAO THERE: Gerardo Fortuna with you, filing the last Brussels Playbook of the year. On a personal note, the prospect of taking on this gig hadn’t been in my wildest professional dreams 365 days ago, yet here we are! I’ll still be around next year, of course — unlike another long-standing bubble fixture (more on that below in Brussels Corner … brace for it!).  Gabriel Gavin will be rocking your inbox Thursday with the first edition of 2026. DRIVING THE DAY N-EU YEAR’S RESOLUTION: You know the drill: plans drafted, promises made. It works the same in Brussels. And bringing Ukraine into the EU — and moving quickly to make it happen — is likely to top EU officials’ list resolutions for 2026. We got hint of this in Tuesday’s “coalition of the willing” call.  Familiar script: Convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to follow up on Monday’s Mar-a-Lago meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, the debrief delivered no surprises. European Council President António Costa spoke of a “determination” to achieve a “sustainable peace;” Finland’s Alexander Stubb urged the bloc to keep up the momentum; Dutch PM Dick Schoof promised work on
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