{"id":1373,"date":"2026-02-12T03:11:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T03:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/1373\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T03:11:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T03:11:06","slug":"fortress-europe-eu-leaders-once-again-head-to-a-castle-for-high-stakes-talks-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/1373\/","title":{"rendered":"Fortress Europe? EU leaders (once again) head to a castle for\u00a0high-stakes\u00a0talks.\u00a0 \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In September 2016, for their first gathering after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, leaders headed to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consilium.europa.eu\/en\/policies\/eu-future-reflection\/bratislava-declaration-and-roadmap\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.consilium.europa.eu\/en\/policies\/eu-future-reflection\/bratislava-declaration-and-roadmap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dramatic hilltop castle of Bratislava<\/a> overlooking the Danube.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the aftermath of the 9\/11 attacks, the European Council met in December 2001 at Ch\u00e2teau de Laeken, the official residence of the Belgian royal family. The secluded location offered the security\u00a0required\u00a0for sensitive discussions on terrorism.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Going back further still, in December 1991 the European Council summit that paved the way for the Maastricht Treaty took place at the\u00a0Provinciehuis\u00a0Limburg \u2014 not a castle. However, a side event took leaders to the nearby Ch\u00e2teau\u00a0Neercanne, where, during a lunch hosted by Queen Beatrix, they symbolically <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitmaastricht.com\/en\/routes\/walking-treaty-of-maastricht\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.visitmaastricht.com\/en\/routes\/walking-treaty-of-maastricht\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">signed\u00a0their names\u00a0on a cave wall<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On rare occasions,\u00a0turrets\u00a0give way to cloisters. The Treaty of Lisbon was signed on Dec. 13, 2007\u00a0at the\u00a016th\u00a0century\u00a0Jer\u00f3nimos Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCastles\u00a0emerged\u00a0in Europe\u00a0largely in\u00a0the wake of the collapse of Charlemagne\u2019s empire. They were a reaction to the uncertainty of a power vacuum and the fear of what it might mean for those who held any power,\u201d said medieval historian Matt Lewis.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe appeal of holding significant international occasions with castles and palaces remains strong today,\u201d Lewis added. \u201cModern politicians are, at least in part, using the very same playbook as their medieval forebears. At the same time, this retreat speaks to a level of fragility, a moment upon which so much might depend, that is firmed up by the centuries-old defences of a castle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Considering how\u00a0Trump famously\u00a0loves hosting\u00a0guests\u00a0at his own resort, Mar-a-Lago, one can only\u00a0speculate\u00a0whether, had Thierry Breton ever become\u00a0European\u00a0Commission president, meetings might have\u00a0taken place at\u00a0Ch\u00e2teau de\u00a0Gargilesse\u00a0\u2014\u00a0which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/thierry-breton-latest-purchase-castle-france-countryside-chateau-gargilesse-dampierre\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/thierry-breton-latest-purchase-castle-france-countryside-chateau-gargilesse-dampierre\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Breton\u00a0purchased\u00a0in 2023<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In September 2016, for their first gathering after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, leaders headed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[377,7,383,222],"class_list":["post-1373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-antonio-costa","tag-belgium","tag-eu-summit","tag-society-and-culture"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}