The EU summit called for a moratorium on attacks on energy facilities and water supplies during the war in the Middle East, its final statement shows.
“The EU summit called for a moratorium on attacks on energy and water supplies“, the document says. EU leaders also “condemned the Iranian strikes“ but did not comment on the US and Israeli strikes, adding that the EU believes “Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons“.
EU leaders also praised Ukraine for its readiness to “provide expertise and capabilities to combat drones“ of the US Gulf allies.
Participants in the EU Middle East summit expressed particular concern that the conflict in the Middle East threatens to lead to a repeat of the 2015 refugee crisis, when the EU was literally flooded by a wave of illegal migrants, with over a million people arriving in Europe in just one year.
This time, EU leaders pledged not to welcome refugees but to take all measures to prevent them from entering Europe.
The document stresses that although the current conflict “has not yet translated into migratory flows to the European Union, the EU must maintain a high level of vigilance“.
“Based on the lessons learned from the 2015 refugee crisis, in order to avoid such a situation, the EU is ready to "fully mobilizes its diplomatic, legislative, operational and financial instruments to prevent uncontrolled migration flows to the EU," the document said.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the possibility of coordinating the issue of shipping security in the Strait of Hormuz with the permanent members of the UN Security Council.
“I explained to the UN Secretary-General that France intends to test the reaction of key partners, and in particular the permanent members of the Security Council, on the feasibility of creating a mechanism within the UN framework to implement our plans regarding the Strait of Hormuz“, he said at a press conference after the EU summit in Brussels.
He specified that he had informed his colleagues about this initiative and had discussed it with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "We have thus begun preliminary actions and in the coming days we will see if they have a chance of success," Macron said.
France will not participate in the unblocking of the Strait of Hormuz while the US and Israeli military operation in Iran continues.
"We will not participate in any action to open the Strait of Hormuz in the context of the current bombings and military actions," Macron said.
At the same time, the president stressed that, in accordance with the joint statement published on March 19, several countries, including France, are ready to study the issue of escorting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but only after the conflict is over. "I have not heard any of my colleagues wanting to intervene in this conflict," he added.
The participants in the EU summit held in Brussels on March 19 did not take any decisions on US military support in the conflict with Iran. The published statement contained only a general call for an increase in the number of ships in the EU missions off the coast of Somalia and in the Red Sea, but did not extend its mandate to the Strait of Hormuz.
EU leaders called on all countries to show restraint and a "moratorium on attacks on energy and water facilities". They also warned that the conflict in the Middle East risks triggering new migration chaos.
Earlier, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Japan expressed their readiness to support efforts to ensure the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz in a joint statement.