At a European Parliament plenary debate on Wednesday 24 October, European Council President Donald Tusk warned the member states against any attempt to protect Saudi Arabia, calling for full light to be shed on "the shocking killing" of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"This was such a horrible crime, that even the slightest trace of hypocrisy would bring shame on us", Tusk stated. He thus hoped that MEPs would not allow "for Europe, the member states or the institutions, to become involved in any ambiguous game". "It is not my role to state who wants to protect whose interests here. But I know one thing: the only European interest is to reveal all the details of this case, regardless of who is behind it", he said.
Attempt to coordinate European response
The previous day, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini told the European Parliament that while Saudi Arabia had just arrested a number of officials as part of this case, "too many details about what happened to the journalist are still missing".
"The confirmation of his death is a first step towards the truth and towards accountability, but the explanations offered so far by the Saudi authorities leave many doubts and many questions unanswered", she said. "We hope that everyone will work towards the goal of establishing the facts (....) The investigation must be driven by the search for the truth and not by geopolitics", she warned, calling on Saudi Arabia for full collaboration with the Turkish authorities.
"We will not just wait for more clarity or ask for it, we will also continue to act together, with our partners, for achieving clarity", she said.
Mogherini announced that the European reaction would depend on the next steps taken by the Saudi authorities. "And we will continue to follow the case and work to coordinate the appropriate reaction that will have to be a united one at European level, and together with our international partners", she added, although a common statement from the G7 foreign ministers, published in parallel, makes no reference to any possible reaction.
"We can all work on more unity and I think we have the duty to do so in the coming days to react properly, rationally, united and in coordination with our international partners", Mogherini stated.
But she recognised that thus far the member states are reacting to this murder in a dispersed way. "I noticed that there are different attitudes among member states on some of the measures", she said. For example, while Germany has announced a suspension of its arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the Spanish Parliament has, by contrast, voted to continue with the sales.
A draft joint resolution from the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE, GUE, Greens/EFA and EFDD Groups, which will be put to the vote on Thursday 25 October, calls on the Council to adopt an embargo on weapons intended for Saudi Arabia (EUROPE will return to this). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)