Josep Borrell has just a few days left as High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs. If the new Commission prospers, he himself has indicated that the 28th of this month will be the moment in which his mandate expires, so today was probably his last Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union. And in this quote he has once again harshly attacked Israel, which he has accused of carrying out “a war against children” a Gaza.
“70% of those killed in Gaza are women and children under nine years of age“Borrell stressed at the press conference after the meeting that took place this Monday in Brussels, and in which he proposed to the foreign ministers of the member countries the cessation of political dialogue with Israel. It would have been a gesture Remarkable political, without a doubt, but the initiative already seemed doomed to failure almost from the moment of its birth.
“The majority of member states consider that it is much better to continue having diplomatic and political relations with Israel. So the decision was not taken into consideration as expected,” Borrell confirmed.
But that does not mean it has relaxed the level of its attacks on Israel. Quite the contrary, which has given continuity to the harsh words that he has been dedicating in recent months to both the country and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. In October, for example, he accused the top official of seeking an international conflict and preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“I have seen the humanitarian aid that Israel does not let in. Netanyahu does not tell me that they are the most moral armyin the world, and that they give 3,000 calories per day to each Palestinian in Gaza,” he stated, and today he assured that “there are no more words to try to explain what is happening in the Middle East.
Ukraine, Biden and “the archers”
Borrell’s intervention has also been even somewhat sarcastic at times, especially when he referred to the situation in Ukraine and the permission that Joe Biden would have given the country to use US missiles in Russian territory.
“The Biden administration has allowed missiles to penetrate up to 300 kilometers into Russian soil. Less is nothing, but it is not a spectacular distance,” said Borrell, who made the following explanation to show that this distance is not enough: ” Ukraine should be able to use the weapons provided not only to stop the arrows but also to hit archers“.
The head of European diplomacy has also pointed out that the war in Ukraine has already lasted 1,000 days. “(Vladimir) Putin thought he would be in kyiv in two weeks and is still fighting in Donbas”, and then remember that Ukraine is a candidate country to join the EU. It has been his way of asking for greater ambition and determination from the ministers of the European Union, a point that has not been achieved either. The last Foreign Affairs Council has not been very fruitful for him.
But even so, he did not want to stop issuing another warning that not only he, but also NATO, has been pointing out in recent months: the conflict in Ukraine is something increasingly global, affecting Europe, of course, Middle East but also to the United States, Canada or Japan. Borrell has cited Iran, North Korea and also China, which would be providing dual-use materials. Drones, for example, which can be used in the civil field but also in the military. “Without Iran, without Chinca and without North Korea, Russia could not continue the war“, said the High Representative of the EU.