European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola has cautioned that the current situation in the Mideast must not take attention away from Ukraine.
Upon arrival at the EU leaders Summit in Brussels, Metsola told reporters, “This European Council takes place with a backdrop of war and geopolitical instability,” adding that the unity and coherence of the European Union “will be tested more than ever before.”
“Hamas must be stopped,” she said.
“There must be an unconditional release of all hostages. While at the same time – they are not mutually exclusive – we have to allow for humanitarian aid to alleviate the toughest of consequences that we are seeing on innocent civilians in Gaza.
“That is why in the European parliament’s resolution last week we called for a humanitarian pause.”
Roberta Metsola
Metsola asserted, “This should not take our attention away from Ukraine.”
“This is exactly what Putin would want. We need to continue to help Ukraine militarily and financially,” she added.
She also emphasized that the EU’s long-term budget must be amended to reflect current challenges.
Later, Metsola stressed that Europe cannot allow its support for Ukraine to waiver.
The EU’s resources are stretched to their limits, the president said, noting that the bloc’s current seven-year budget was agreed in a very different time and priorities have evolved.
“Now is the time to put our money where our mouth is, and the EU’s credibility is at stake,” she said.
Gitanas Nausėda, Lithuania’s President, also told reporters ahead of the summit that his message was “to keep supporting Ukraine” and “be consistent.”
“We have no right for war fatigue,” he said.
“This is very important, especially now, in this critical stage of the war, to stay united, not to split our foreign policy,” he noted.
Additionally, Evika Siliņa, Latvia’s prime minister, stressed that the bloc needs to be united on both Ukraine and the Middle East.
She also highlighted that the EU must provide predictable financial support to Kyiv.
Calls for Halt In Ongoing War
Ireland’s Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar stated that there should be a “humanitarian ceasefire” or humanitarian “pause”, stressing that the main issue was not words but getting urgent aid into Gaza where the crisis is getting worse by the hour.
Also, Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez said, “We must urgently call for a humanitarian pause.”
“I would add, as Prime Minister of Spain, that I would like to see a ceasefire for humanitarian purposes. But if we don’t have that conditions, at least a humanitarian pause in order to channel all the humanitarian aid that the Palestinian population needs, urgently.”
Pedro Sanchez
The Spanish leader reiterated his country’s position condemning Hamas’ terror attacks and calling on Hamas to release all hostages.
Israel has all right to defend itself, but within international humanitarian law, he stressed.
However, there is much work left to do, Sánchez said, referring to the need for a humanitarian pause and allowing for a permanent flow of aid into Gaza, and proportional to the needs of the population in Gaza.
Sanchez added that Spain supports a two-state solution and called for a peace summit on the situation in the Mideast..
The Belgian prime minister, Alexander De Croo, said, “Israel has a right to take action and to prevent future attacks. But that is never an excuse for blocking a whole region, for blocking humanitarian aid. It cannot be an excuse to starve a population.”
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