On Monday 28 October, at the ninth Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, stressed the urgent need for a lasting peace and enhanced cooperation in the Mediterranean, and made a worrying assessment of the situation in the Middle East.
“The UfM was created from a shared political will to revitalise efforts to transform the Mediterranean area into an area of peace, democratic cooperation and prosperity”, said Mr Borrell in Barcelona, calling for the organisation to be reformed in order to strengthen it.
“The aim of the UfM was for all the countries in the Mediterranean basin – including the Israelis and Palestinians – to work together to create an area of peace and stability. Unfortunately, historically, this objective has not been achieved in this way”, he declared at a press conference.
Mr Borrell condemned recent violations of the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem by “extremist” Israeli ministers and deplored an increasingly destructive cycle of violence in the West Bank and Lebanon.
Once again, the EU High Representative has called for an immediate ceasefire along the ‘blue line’ and for the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions, denouncing in particular the Israeli attacks on the infrastructure and personnel of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (see EUROPE 13511/6).
North of Gaza. Mr Borrell described the situation in the north of the Gaza Strip as “the direst, the most acute humanitarian crisis since World War II” and warned of the serious human rights violations suffered by civilians.
In a statement on Saturday 26 October, the EU High Representative joined the call by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, to remind the signatory states of the Geneva Conventions of their legal duty to protect civilians in times of conflict.
Iran. Also on Saturday, the EU expressed its concern at Israel’s retaliatory attack on Iran, confirmed by the Israel Defence Forces. “While recognising Israel’s right to self-defence, the EU calls on all parties to show the utmost restraint in order to avoid an uncontrollable escalation of the conflict”, said a spokeswoman for the European External Action Service. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)