Since last weekend, Europeans have been stepping up discussions on the crises in the Middle East, trying to find ways of easing the situation.
Thus, the exceptional ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council meeting scheduled for Friday 10 January will, according to the spokesman for the European External Action Service, Peter Stano, aim to “discuss developments” on the ground (see EUROPE 12397/1). He added that the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, needed instructions from the Member States on how the EU should act. “The main objective is appeasement, the return to a policy of engagement to prevent any kind of confrontation and to give diplomacy and negotiations a chance”, Mr Stano told the press on Tuesday 7 January.
This Council will be prepared for by the ambassadors of the 28 Member States on Wednesday 8 January, but already on Tuesday the ambassadors of the Political and Security Committee moved up their agenda to discuss the situation in Iraq. According to a European source, the discussions focused on the need to work towards easing tensions and preserving stability in the face of a risk of confrontation between Iran and the United States and the destabilisation of Iraq.
In parallel, the French, German and British Foreign Ministers, meeting in Brussels with the High Representative and their Italian counterpart on the situation in Libya (see other news), discussed tensions between the United States and Iran and the latest Iranian announcement on the nuclear deal.
“This agreement has not lost its value”, stressed German Minister Heiko Maas before the E3 meeting. “We cannot accept Iran’s failure to live up to its commitments. And we can’t stand by and do nothing about it”, he said, adding that he will discuss possible solutions and the future of the agreement with his counterparts.
Exceptional meeting of the College of Commissioners this Wednesday
On the morning of Wednesday 8 January, an exceptional meeting of the College of Commissioners will be held at the request of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at which “High Representative Borrell and other Commissioners will debrief on the outreach to different stakeholders related to developments in Iraq and beyond”. “This meeting will also serve as a platform to coordinate actions to be undertaken by Commissioners in the region and with partners related to their portfolios”, Mrs von der Leyen said in a statement.
According to spokesman Eric Mamer, the meeting will aim to assess which of the Commissioners’ areas of competence could be affected by the crisis, as well as the European interests whose protection may require European action. This meeting will, according to him, make it possible to consider the appropriate mechanisms for taking such action, “in order to take stock and defend our interests in the best possible way”. Among these European interests, Eric Mamer mentioned transport and energy as examples.
In her statement, the President of the Commission stressed the “importance of halting the cycle of violence” in the Middle East and creating space for diplomacy. “Europe has a special responsibility here. As tensions mount, Europe is talking to all those involved”, she added.
For his part, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, talked on Monday evening, 6 January, with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “I will continue to use all contacts at the EU level and beyond to convince the parties to refrain from irreversible action”, Mr Michel stated after his telephone conversation with Mr Guterres. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Agathe Cherki)