Leaders from 44 countries are gathering in Prague on Thursday for the first meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), a new political forum set up in light of the Ukraine conflict aimed at establishing a wider European network.

But with profound disagreements - and even open conflict - among some of the participants, the new format could already be off to a rocky start. Here's what you need to know about the EPC's first instalment.

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What is the EPC and who is in it?

Thursday's meeting in Prague, a brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron, has been billed by Brussels as a "platform for political coordination" where the continent's leaders can discuss areas of common interest and cooperation.

The format unsurprisingly includes all the member states of the European Union. However, it diverges from typical European meetings in that it offers a place for other heads of state from the continent (or bordering it) to join the conversation. 

That includes the leaders of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine and the recently EU-divorced UK.

Turkey, which straddles the bloc, also has a seat at the table, while Russia - another nation that has long debated its inclusion in Europe - was cordially not invited to the gathering.  

Such a concept has been floating around the continent for years, with former French President François Mitterrand pushing for a "European confederation" more than three decades ago.

However, the historic meeting at Prague Castle on Thursday is the first realization of such a concept.

 

What are the main issue on the table?

Russia's attack on Ukraine is expected to be the key issue of the conference, with discussions focusing on the security and economic fallout from the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be in attendance via video link from Kyiv, while his prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, will be standing in for him in person.

An EU diplomat said the meeting of so many leaders in Prague would send "a very strong signal" to Russian President Vladimir Putin of opposition to the Moscow's assault on its neighbor. 

However, the summit is set to be dominated by the conflict's impact on countries east of Ukraine, specially how to cap gas prices to contain soaring energy costs.

Diplomats said the summit would likely also include continental complaints over Germany's announcement of a 200 billion euro ($197.50 billion) support package for businesses and households, measures that would be impossible for other countries to afford. 

The UK, the first country to break away from the EU, will also be looking to steer the conversation to Brexit-related issue, while nations hoping to join the bloc - Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and the Western Balkan nations - are expected to try to shore up their claims during the event.

What are the potential difficulties? 

The gathering has passed its first major challenge of getting key European powers outside the EU to show up. However, that could mean new headaches for the ECP's proponents. 

Britain's new prime minister Liz Truss will be there on one of her first major trips abroad after taking office, despite London's concerns about the event being dominated by the EU.

Her office said she will meet the French and Dutch leaders to discuss asylum seekers attempting to reach the UK via the Channel. However, she could face some hostility from her EU counterparts over UK efforts to renegotiate the post-Brexit trade deal for Northern Ireland.

The presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also be an issue for EU members Greece and Cyprus, who have long-standing disputes with Ankara, while Sweden and Finland will also likely have mixed feeling after Erdogan threatened to sink their bids to join NATO. 

A potentially more fraught meeting could be between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, after violence escalated between the neighbors along their volatile and disputed frontier.

Armenia's prime minister said he would meet Azerbaijan's president together with Macron and EU chief Charles Michel.

Those pushing to join the EU will also likely be wary of the format, concerned it may be used by the EU to brush off their ambitions for membership. 

 

What is likely to be achieved? 

Despite some positivity about actually bringing such a wide-spanning summit to fruition, there are expected to be few concrete results.

Some have already hit out at the EPC as being an intrinsically unwieldy format, difficult to manage due to its size, diversity, and the traditional rivalries between many of its members.

France, the forum's biggest proponent, has said it hopes to define potential room for cooperation on protecting European infrastructure such as pipelines, cybersecurity and energy supplies.  

But on the eve of the gathering, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said with so many leaders meeting for just half a day it would likely only be "an initial exchange," and there were still many questions left about the forum's ultimate goal.

In a blog, Borrell said clarity was still needed on the EPC's core rationale, membership, its relationship with the EU, and how it should take decisions.

Europe's leaders expect to agree to hold a follow-up meeting in six months in a country outside the bloc, with Britain and Moldova both offering to host.

While there are major questions over the gathering's practical outcomes, there will be a lot of activity on the sidelines as leaders hold bilateral talks.

"There will definitely be some hard, head-on exchanges," said one organizer.

Still, Mujtaba Rahman, Eurasia Group's managing director for Europe, said it could offer a healthy opportunity for Europe to advance its strategic goals on energy supply, migration, security and defense.