In a declaration adopted on Monday 2 February, more than 400 former European Union ambassadors, EU ministers, European commissioners and senior European officials, including the Greek Anna Diamantopolou, the Swede Hans Blix, the Briton Jonathan Todd and the Spaniard Eneko Landaburu, call on European leaders to “desist from membership” in the ‘Board of Peace’ set up by Donald Trump to put the peace agreement in the Gaza Strip into practice. They argue that, in its current configuration, this body “threatens” the role of the United Nations and includes “a war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court”.
Hungary and Bulgaria took part in the ceremony to launch the ‘Board of Peace’ at the end of January, alongside the Davos World Economic Forum (see EUROPE 13792/3). The presidents of Russia and Belarus have been invited to attend.
The signatories also urge the EU and its Member States to engage in “a critical and time-limited dialogue with Israel” on the application of the relevant provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. In the absence of constructive action on these issues, they advocate “adopting measures aimed at stopping Israeli excesses and unremitting violations of international law, including suspending the Agreement”. And, in line with the rulings of the International Court of Justice, “all military support to Israel should be halted and trade with its illegal settlements effectively banned”, they add.
They invite European decision-makers to launch initiatives with their international partners to promote peace in the Middle East.
See the 400 signatories’ appeal: https://aeur.eu/f/kjs (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)