The foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) will address this Monday the possibility of attacking the financing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and sanction Israeli settlers responsible for violence in the West Bank, and will debate continuing aid to Ukraine while Hungary continues to raise obstacles.
The community ministers, meeting in a Council in Brussels, will once again talk about How to ensure the safety of civilians in the Gaza Strip in the middle of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas after the terrorist attacks on its territory on October 7.
They will also address the importance of preventing the conflict from spreading to the region after fighting resumed due to the impossibility of extending the pause that stopped the bombings for a few days, and of work towards a two-state solution.
In this context, they will discuss a series of ideas proposed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, based on four starting points: the protection of civilians, the passage of humanitarian aid, avoiding a regional escalation and a political horizon with a two-state solution.
The Twenty-Seven agree that there will be no forced displacement of the population of Gaza, nor an Israeli occupation of its territory, nor a change in its borders, nor a return of Hamas to the government of the Stripnor that a different solution be given to that of the West Bank, since both enclaves form Palestine, community sources indicated.
Based on these principles, Borrell has presented seven possible lines of action to the Twenty-seven on which the ministers will exchange points of view.
They include issues such as compliance with international law for the stabilization of Gaza, preserving the possibility of two states, revitalizing the Palestinian Authority, providing further support to Palestine through Common Security and Defense Policy missions if necessary, or revive the peace process.
Meanwhile, the debate is on the table of applying new sanctions – which are expected to be ready in two weeks – to cut off access to financing by Hamas, which is already on the list of terrorist organizations of the EU, as well as the possibility of applying restrictive measures to settlers responsible for acts of violence in the West Bank.
Community sources considered the plans to create new Israeli settlements in that area as “a provocation,” especially in the context of the war in Gaza.
In any case, sanctions on Israeli settlers – which the US has already decided on – are less ripe at the moment in the EU than the possibility of imposing further restrictions on Hamas.
Maintain support for Ukraine
Another main issue that ministers will discuss will be the need to ensure the assistance to Ukraine to defend itself with guarantees from the Russian invasion, an issue that they will discuss with their Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitro Kuleba, who will attend after the Council itself a meeting of the EU with the Eastern Partnership, an umbrella that also includes Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The EU wants to ensure that it maintains unity in long-term support for Ukraine at a time of “certain stagnation” on the battlefield and when the United States Congress continues to fail to move forward due to Republican reluctance to the multibillion-dollar plan of the president of the country, Joe Biden, to continue the disbursement of weapons for kyiv.
Asked about a possible return of Republican Donald Trump to the White House, community sources assured that from Brussels they will continue working “independently” to support Ukraine and against the “existential threat to Europe” posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. .
“It is obvious that what is happening in the US is not useful, and makes what is happening here in Europe even more important,” other diplomatic sources indicated.
Within the EU itself, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, is also reluctant to give the green light to new aid tranches for EU countries to co-finance the shipment of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, despite the fact that countries such as Germany or France They even see in this an opportunity to modernize their own arsenals, diplomatic sources said.
Orbán has also threatened to block the start of Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations, against the recommendation of the European Commission.
Finally, the ministers will address the changes in the security situation in the Sahel following the latest coups d’état in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, as well as the presence of Russia and China in the area.
EFE
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