Josep Borrell, the departing EU overseas affairs chief, on Thursday mentioned the most important remorse of his tenure had been his failure to influence the Israeli authorities to stop the devastating lack of life and destruction in Gaza.
“Almost 40,000 individuals have been killed in Gaza, lots of them ladies and kids, and the worldwide group and the EU haven’t been in a position to get a cease-fire and begin pondering of a political resolution after what number of months?” Borrell requested bitterly.
Speaking on the European Council on Foreign Relations assembly in Madrid, he lamented that the EU has been a “non-actor” within the Middle East disaster.
“It is my biggest frustration and biggest example of how, when the EU is divided, we can not even fulfill the role of a geopolitical actor, which we pretend to be,” he mentioned.
He additionally mentioned the EU’s credibility is in danger resulting from its “division” and “irrelevance” within the state of affairs.
“The heart of the EU could be below the ruins of Gaza,” he mentioned.
“To clearly show the world that lives matter, whether in Ukraine or Gaza, is one of the most important political endeavors of the European Union. And when we say that cutting water, electricity and food to the civilian population is a war crime when we talk about Ukraine, the same words need to be used when we talk about Gaza. But this is not the case.”
Borrell mentioned the EU might be judged by different nations – from South East Asia to Latin America to Africa – over its “capacity to defend basic principles” and the best way it responds to this battle.
His remarks got here throughout a dialog with the incoming president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, who didn’t straight touch upon Gaza.
Both Costa, from Portugal and Borrell, from Spain, come from the Socialist Party.
As his parting recommendation to Costa, Borrell urged the previous Portuguese prime minister to “make it clear” from day one that he’s “the representative of the EU for foreign and security policy.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com