The differences of opinion in Europe and who issued condemnation messages against Israel and the USA

Therefore, the fact that it was a preventive war and that the initiative was on the Israeli-American side posed difficulties for the European leaders, who chose after hours of discussions at noon to vaguely formulate condemnations “for all sides”, a demand for calming the spirits and de-escalation and clearly refrained from siding with Israel or the US.

While the initial announcements by France and Great Britain only supported the Gulf countries “not involved in the conflict”, later in the day the two European powers, together with Germany, jointly announced their condemnation of “Iran’s indiscriminate military attacks” against all the countries of the region, including Israel, in what was perceived as a slightly harsher tone against Iran.

The first announcement from the European Union was published at noon, in coordination between the President of the Union and the Commissioner for its foreign relations and was a continuation of the cautious line of the European Union. The two warned of a “danger to world peace”, called for dialogue and “resolving the conflict through diplomatic means” and expressed “deep concern about the situation”.

After them, French President Emmanuel Macron published a message on the X network in which he called on the Iranian regime to understand “that it must open negotiations.” He announced that there would be an urgent discussion of the Security Council, perhaps in an attempt to mediate on the issue. He also repeated and condemned the massacre of protesters in Iran in the last two months and said that “the acts of killing… require the Iranian regime to listen to the voice of the people. Better sooner than later.”

France maintains close relations, both military and security, with Qatar and other countries in the Gulf that were attacked today by Iran, which formed the background for other things in Macron’s statement, according to which “France stands ready to deploy the necessary resources” to help protect its allies in the region. After him, the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, joined the line of comments. The old ally of the US has previously participated in various US operations under the NATO umbrella in the Middle East, but not now. Both countries made it clear that “we had no involvement in the current attacks.”

“We do not want to see the situation deteriorate into a larger regional conflict,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. He also expressed “full commitment to our allies in the region”, and said that Britain would assist them “if we are asked to do so”. He specifically referred to the Iranian attacks on the Gulf states. German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz avoided an independent response until the evening hours, and signed a three-way response by the European powers. The harsher tone of the joint response “strongly condemned the Iranian attacks on countries in the region”. “Iran must avoid indiscriminate military attacks,” it said.

France, Spain and the Netherlands continue to visit Israel

On the other side of the EU spectrum, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, from the Social Democratic Party, chose to strongly condemn the “unilateral attack by the US and Israel, which is helping to establish a more violent and hostile world order.” Sánchez also condemned the suppression of the protest by the Revolutionary Guards, saying that Spain demands “de-escalation” and “full respect of international law.” Norway and Switzerland also, outside To the European Union, join this camp. Among those who support Israel’s right to defend itself and start a war are the Czech Republic and Hungary. Thus, the map of support for Israel that has been established since October 7 is repeated in the current context: Germany and the countries of Central Europe support it; France, Spain and the Netherlands criticize it.

 

Europe’s response (so far) to strikes on Iran splits broadly into four camps:

Clearly critical: just now (legal & escalation concerns)

Middle ground: Just just just (de-escalation + non-proliferation)

Least critical: Just, just, just

Outright support: just now just now

– John Lyndon (@JohnLyndon_) February 28, 2026

The EU is out of the picture

But in fact, the EU is in the current state of affairs completely out of the picture. If in the past forces of the French and British air forces participated in the defense of Israel, or tried to create a sense of a Western bloc led by the USA, then this position has been eroded.

The hostility between the US and Europe, the military irrelevance of the European countries and the fear of choosing a side on the continent broke any such solidarity. In Europe, they prefer to discuss the question of whether the attacks were in accordance with international law, whether Israel or the US were the ones targeting political leaders, and concentrate on trying to calm the spirits and rescue civilians from the region. “In the end,” said the leaders of Germany, France and Great Britain, “the Iranian people should choose their own destiny.” If it were the European Union, it seems that this date could be very far in the future.