Eduardo González
The acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, proposed yesterday to EU leaders that the international peace conference for the Middle East proposed this past Monday by Spain be held “within six months” and serve so that “the entire international community feels involved” in favor of the two-state solution. Finally, the 27 agreed to “reactivate a political process based on the two-state solution” and showed “their support for the early holding of an international peace conference,” without further details.
Sánchez traveled to Brussels yesterday to participate in a particularly relevant European Council, in which, for two days, the situation in the Middle East, support for Ukraine vis-à-vis Russia, the EU’s long-term budget (or financial framework, multiannual, MFP), migration and measures to strengthen industrial policy, deepen the single market and reduce the Union’s strategic dependencies, among other issues.
In statements to the press upon his arrival at the Council, Sánchez once again condemned the Hamas attack in Israel, demanded that this Islamic terrorist group unconditionally release the hostages, and reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself within the parameters of International Humanitarian Law. and called for a “humanitarian pause, which is not yet included as such in the draft conclusions of the European Council”, so that “the entry of humanitarian aid is allowed permanently and proportionate to the needs of the Gazan population.”
In the final conclusions, adopted yesterday, the 27 express “their deepest concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and call for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and for aid to reach those who need it, taking to “all necessary measures, including humanitarian corridors and humanitarian pauses.” Therefore, the text speaks of “humanitarian pauses”, in plural, as the United States has defended and countries more inclined to Israel, such as Germany or Austria, accept.
For his part, the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, declared upon his arrival at the venue that during the Council they would talk about “humanitarian pauses so that aid can reach Gaza” and about the need to “relaunch the political process, seeking a solution that can prevent other outbreaks of violence and seeking a way to implement the two-state solution.” Last Monday, Borrell wanted to make it clear, during the EU Foreign Affairs Council (CAE) in Luxembourg, that a humanitarian pause is not the same as a ceasefire, because “its objective is less ambitious” and therefore, you can agree “more quickly”.
Likewise, Pedro Sánchez expressed his hope that “a horizon of political solution to a conflict that has been stagnant for years and years can be glimpsed.” “From Spain we propose that an international peace conference be held within six months so that the entire international community feels involved and we can definitively find a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine,” declared Sánchez, providing some detail to the proposal. presented the day before by the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, during the CAE. The objective of this summit, he continued, is that “the entire international community feels involved and we can, definitively, find a two-state solution.”
In this regard, EU sources told the Europa Press agency that Sánchez’s proposal did not generate much enthusiasm among European partners, who have doubts about its usefulness at this time of maximum tension in the Middle East. Despite this, the conclusions point out that “the European Union is willing to contribute to reactivating a political process based on the two-state solution, also through the Peace Day initiative, and welcomes diplomatic initiatives in matters of peace and security and shows its support for the early holding of an international peace conference”.
For her part, the Israeli ambassador to Spain, Rodica Radian-Gordon, yesterday rejected Pedro Sánchez’s proposal. “Now is not the right time to talk about solutions before, first of all, the kidnapped people return and then the infrastructure and all Hamas bases are destroyed,” he declared during a meeting with relatives of those kidnapped by Hamas at the Hamas headquarters. the Jewish Community in Madrid.
