Latest news with #KalypsoNicolaidis
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
EU must be more assertive with Israel: Ex-foreign policy chief
LONDON: The EU must adopt a more assertive posture against Israel over its violations of international law in Gaza, Josep Borrell, the bloc's former foreign policy chief, has said. In an article for Foreign Affairs magazine, Borrell argued that the EU has a 'duty' to intervene over the humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian enclave, The Guardian reported. Rather than relying on the US to bring an end to the war, Europe must launch its own plan, he said. The article was co-authored with Kalypso Nicolaidis, a Franco-Greek academic who has advised the EU. 'Europe can no longer afford to linger at the margin. The EU needs a concerted plan,' the two authors said. 'Not only is Europe's own security at stake, but more important, European history imposes a duty on Europeans to intervene in response to Israel's violations of international law. 'Europeans cannot stay the hapless fools in this tragic story, dishing out cash with their eyes closed.' Borrell's successor, Kaja Kallas, said last week that it was 'very clear' Israel had breached its human rights commitments during its war on Gaza. However, the 'concrete question' remains the choice of action EU member states can agree on in response, she added. Last month, 17 EU member states, in protest against Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza, triggered a review of the bloc's association agreement with Israel, which covers trade and other cooperation. Borrell last month accused Tel Aviv of 'carrying out the largest ethnic-cleansing operation since the end of the Second World War.' Europe's inconsistent response to the humanitarian crisis can be partly explained by the reluctance of some countries — including Germany, Hungary and Austria — to take action against Israel for historical reasons, Borrell and Nicolaidis wrote. Yet there are ways for other EU member states to take action without requiring a continent-wide consensus, they said, highlighting the EU's financial leverage and the utility of European programs for Israel, including the Erasmus student exchange scheme. EU member states could also invoke Article 20 of the EU's treaty to 'allow for at least nine member states to come together to utilize certain foreign policy tools not related to defense,' they wrote. 'Because such an action has never been taken before, those states would have to explore what (it) … would concretely allow them to do,' the Foreign Affairs article said. The EU has been rendered ineffective in applying pressure due to disunity, the two authors said, arguing that the bloc should act as a powerful mediator in the Middle East. 'Some EU leaders cautiously backed the International Criminal Court's investigations, while others, such as Austria and Germany, have declined to implement its arrest warrants against Israeli officials,' they wrote. 'And because EU member states, beginning with Germany and Hungary, could not agree on whether to revisit the union's trade policy with Israel, the EU continues to be Israel's largest trading partner. 'As a result, the EU, as a bloc, has been largely relegated to the sidelines, divided internally and overshadowed in ceasefire diplomacy by the US and regional actors such as Egypt and Qatar. Shouldn't the EU also have acted as a mediator?'
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
EU must have a stronger response over Gaza, says bloc's former chief diplomat
The EU must come up with a more assertive response to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the violations of international law, the bloc's former chief diplomat has said. In a strongly worded article, Josep Borrell said the EU had a 'duty' to intervene and must come up with its own concerted plan to end the war instead of relying on the US. 'Europe can no longer afford to linger at the margins,' he said in the article that was co-authored with Kalypso Nicolaidis, an occasional adviser to the EU and professorial chair in international affairs at the Florence school of transnational governance at the European University Institute. 'The EU needs a concerted plan. 'Not only is Europe's own security at stake, but more important, European history imposes a duty on Europeans to intervene in response to Israel's violations of international law,' they say, adding: 'Europeans cannot stay the hapless fools in this tragic story, dishing out cash with their eyes closed.' Their intervention in Foreign Affairs magazine comes as EU member states continue to struggle to unite on action. Last week Borrell's successor, Kaja Kallas, said it was 'very clear' that Israel had breached its human rights commitments in Gaza but said the 'concrete question' was what action the member states can agree on. Her remarks were made after a review of the EU-Israel association agreement, a trade and cooperation pact, was triggered last month by 17 member states in protest at Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The authors say there are ways and lessons from the past to guide EU member states who want to take action without having to get buy in from countries reluctant to do so, for historical reasons, including Germany, Hungary and Austria. They suggest a number of actions, from using the EU's financial leverage, to suspending Israel's presence in EU programmes such as the Erasmus+ student exchange. They also suggest EU member states could explore using article 20 of the EU's treaty to 'allow for at least nine member states to come together to utilise certain foreign policy tools not related to defence'. 'Because such an action has never been taken before, those states would have to explore what [it] … would concretely allow them to do,' the article said. Borrell and Nicolaidis argue that the disunity in the EU has reduced what should be a powerful mediating voice in the Middle East into a bit player. 'Some EU leaders cautiously backed the international criminal court's investigations, while others, such as Austria and Germany, have declined to implement its arrest warrants against Israeli officials,' they say. 'And because EU member states, beginning with Germany and Hungary, could not agree on whether to revisit the union's trade policy with Israel, the EU continues to be Israel's largest trading partner. 'As a result, the EU, as a bloc, has been largely relegated to the sidelines, divided internally and overshadowed in ceasefire diplomacy by the United States and regional actors such as Egypt and Qatar. Shouldn't the EU also have acted as a mediator?'
