In a ‘critical situation,’ European leaders plan the future of the EU

Britain can not expect access to the single market without accepting free movement of people, the European Commission president has said.

But the Hungarian government, and its allies in Slovakia, which is hosting the EU meeting, say it is they who are upholding European values. The head of the EU’s executive branch said this week that the bloc could save up to $28 billion a year if nations better coordinate their defense spending.

As UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s government struggles to work out how to manage Britain’s departure from the European Union after the Brexit referendum in June, the remaining 27 are seeking common approaches in areas such as defense, growth and border security.

The leaders of Germany and France are keen to present a united post-Brexit vote front for the European Union as both countries hold crunch national elections next year.

Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. “We have to make sure we can fix them”.

The summit is being held in Bratislava because Slovakia now holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

With Britain’s withdrawal process clouded in confusion and no clear signal on whether the country intends to stay in the single market or not, Europe’s leaders face a hard task plotting a way forward.

Talk of joint efforts to defend Europe is on the lips of European Union leaders after decades of leaving collective security mostly to the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

EU President Donald Tusk said the talks – held in Bratislava Castle with a break for lunch on a cruise ship on the Danube – were “sober but not defeatist”.

“It is of great importance that we are leaving today with a new political agenda that will open the process of European Union reforms”, Poland’s Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said.

“After the vote in the United Kingdom the only thing that makes sense is to have a sober and brutally honest assessment of the situation”, European Council President Donald Tusk told reporters in Bratislava on the eve of the meeting. Even less controversial ideas-like more military coordination-have critics: Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said Friday morning he will bring up his country’s “red lines” on defense cooperation. Let me just mention that a number of leaders have chose to immediately deploy extra personnel and equipment to help guard Bulgaria’s border with Turkey.

Hollande is trailing in the polls ahead of next May’s French presidential elections.

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said on Twitter: “We have a proposal of a road map for concrete steps for strengthening citizens confidence in the functioning of the European Union”.

While the message from the European Union was that free movement of people in Europe would remain, the main item on the agenda was migration from outside the bloc. Greece’s place in the euro single currency has been called into question, and created a major rift between pro-austerity countries led by Germany and countries with more social-minded governments.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose country has been at the center of the region’s debt crisis and seen the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants over the a year ago, said things can not continue as they are.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country was one of the EU’s founders, insisted internal quarrels were not new.

Diplomats said a busy morning of talks in Bratislava’s hilltop castle had remained civil and constructive in analyzing what was wrong.