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| - European leaders meet on Thursday to tackle disputes that threaten their huge coronavirus recovery package and weaken their ability to respond to crises on their borders with Turkey and Belarus. The first night of the extraordinary two-day European Union summit will be dominated by the bloc's tricky ties with Ankara, which is embroiled in a dangerous maritime stand-off with Greece and Cyprus. But the leaders will reluctantly be forced to address an internal argument about tying access to EU funds to a member state's support for the rule of law -- an idea fiercely opposed by Hungary. The summit programme was updated at the last minute with the news that France's President Emmanuel Macron will return to Paris after the first day, and on Friday be represented by Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel. At a turbulent summit in July the leaders agreed to borrow to build a 750 billion euro ($875 billion) coronavirus stimulus fund, to be backed by a trillion-euro long-term EU budget. But the speaker of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, will warn the national heads at the start of their meeting that MEPs oppose cuts to key EU programmes in the budget plan and want 100 billion euros more. The parliament could yet withhold approval for the package, and Hungary and Poland could also block the deal if their access to funds is linked to their respect for EU legal and democratic values. The so-called "frugal countries" -- the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Denmark and Finland -- oppose restoring the budget cuts and insist on the importance of the rule of law. A German compromise proposal, which would see states fined only for rule of law breaches involving the spending of EU funds, narrowly won the support of EU ambassadors ahead of the summit on Wednesday. But the frugals' envoys voted against it, as for them it does not go far enough, and so did Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused the block of "blackmail". But the European leaders will not want to get bogged down in more of the fighting about budgets and values that almost derailed July's marathon four-day summit. Instead, diplomats say foreign affairs and Europe's strategic posture will dominate. Over dinner on Thursday they will look at ties with Turkey, which is notionally still a candidate to join the EU but is in a stand-off with Greece and Cyprus over maritime borders and energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean. Ankara has infuriated the EU by sending research ships with naval escorts to work in contested waters, and Athens has responded with war games backed by France, raising fears of full-blown conflict. Tensions have eased slightly, with Turkey and Greece agreeing to resume long-stalled talks, but Ankara still has assets in Cypriot waters. In his summit invitation, European Council president Charles Michel warned that "all options remain on the table" if Ankara does not engage constructively in talks. This could include tough economic sanctions against Turkey, but officials stress that while the EU stands squarely with Greece and Cyprus, the focus for now is on trying to find a diplomatic solution. "We've seen positive developments on Ankara's behalf towards Greece but not Cyprus," an EU official said, citing the start of a German-led mediation effort. Meanwhile, Cyprus has been blocking long-trailed sanctions over the political crisis in Belarus, insisting on actions over Turkish drilling in its waters at the same time. "Perhaps we haven't yet shown this member state enough solidarity. We must give Cyprus more confidence in order to advance on Belarus," one diplomat said. EU officials have drawn up a list of 40 Belarus officials seen as responsible for post-election repression in the country, and they will face sanctions if Cyprus drops its roadblock. The leaders will discuss whether to include Belarus's leader Alexander Lukashenko on the sanctions list, as Canada and Britain have already done. According to a draft of the summit's conclusions, seen by AFP, the leaders will call on Belarus "to end violence and repression, release all detainees and political prisoners, respect media freedom and civil society, and start an inclusive national dialogue. "It agrees that restrictive measures should be imposed and calls on the Council to adopt the decision without delay." The leaders are loath to return to the topic of Britain's post-Brexit negotiations on a trade deal, but they will be updated on the state of play in the ongoing talks on Friday. On Thursday, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels had launched legal infringement proceedings against London over its effort to overwrite the Brexit divorce deal through domestic law. And Ireland's premier Micheal Martin will take the floor to bring up his concerns about London's efforts to re-write the Brexit withdrawal deal. burs-dc/gd
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