Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bethel was harsh in his assessment, admitting that no one listens to the EU anymore. The EU is displaying “confetti” on the international stage, Bethel added.
EU ministers are unable to agree on a common bloc response that could stop the escalation of hostilities from escalating into a full-scale regional war.
The meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg comes a week after the first anniversary of the massacre in Israel by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, during which the terrorists murdered nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 hostages.
In response to the October 7 massacre, Israel expressed its determination to destroy “Hamas” and launched a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip. The authorities in the terrorist-controlled Gaza Strip claim that more than 42,000 people have been killed in the fighting in the Gaza Strip, but these numbers are believed to be greatly exaggerated given the disinformation so far persistently spread by Hamas. In addition, a large number of those killed are fighters of Islamist groups.
It should also be noted that not all dead Palestinians are victims of Israeli fire. Missing rockets fired by terrorists at Israel kill many. There have also been reports of cases where militants have opened fire on civilians who do not want to submit to the terrorists’ demands and play the role of human shields.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah, which supports Palestinian terrorists along with Iran, has subjected northern Israel to constant rocket fire since the October 7 massacre, forcing the evacuation of approximately 60,000 Israelis from the threatened areas.
On September 23, the Israeli army launched intensive airstrikes against Hezbollah-related targets in Lebanon, but on October 1, it also launched a ground operation to push back the group’s fighters from the border areas and allow the evacuated residents to return to their homes.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg emphasized that since October 7, Israel is in an “incredibly difficult situation” and that “Hezbollah” is constantly attacking it from Lebanon.
At the same time, the EU’s highest representative for foreign affairs, Jozeps Borel, expressed dissatisfaction with the different positions of the member states on the Middle East issue.
“It takes too much time to say some things that are quite obvious,” Borrell said. “It is quite obvious that we must stand up against Israel’s attacks [ANO miera uzturētāju misijai] UNIFIL, especially because our soldiers are there.”
Shortly before the start of the meeting, an EU joint statement was issued on Monday, condemning as “totally unacceptable” attacks by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, which injured UN peacekeepers.
In recent days, five peacekeepers were injured in attacks on UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon. Most attacks are blamed on Israel.
This announcement was originally planned to be published as early as last weekend.
But it was blocked by the Czech Republic, which, as EU diplomats claimed on Monday, had coordinated its position with Israel.
At the same time, Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin said that EU member states should take “the side of what is right, decent and moral” as Israel attacks UN peacekeepers.
As Martin said, he was surprised that some EU member states do not support UN peacekeepers as strongly as they could.
Of the ten main countries that have sent their soldiers to participate in UNFIL, four are EU members – Italy, Spain, France and Ireland.
There are also major disagreements between EU member states over the supply of arms to Israel. While France and Spain have called for an arms embargo, other member states have increased arms deliveries.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barot said that it is pointless to supply weapons to Israel and call for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon at the same time. “It’s a matter of consistency,” Baro said.