The European Union is not fulfilling its obligations regarding the war in Gaza, and its credibility in implementing its foreign policy is "collapsing", Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevost said today in an interview with Agence France-Presse, BTA reported.
"There is no doubt that at this stage the EU is not fulfilling its responsibilities sufficiently in this huge humanitarian crisis, which is reaching inhuman proportions" Prevost announced.
"It is already clear to public opinion that the credibility of the EU's foreign policy is collapsing on this issue alone" he added.
With his statement, the French-speaking centrist minister refers to the disunity among the 27 member states, which have been unable to reach a consensus for months to sanction Israel for the destructive war it has been waging in the Palestinian territory for two years in response to the attack on October 7, 2023, carried out by "Hamas".
The extremely limited access to humanitarian aid for the civilian population led the UN to declare at the end of August that there was a mass famine there.
To respond to the crisis situation, this week Belgium unequivocally proceeded with a series of sanctions (economic, consular, etc.) against Israel and several ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu's government and pledged to join the countries that will soon recognize Palestine as a state on the sidelines of the next UN General Assembly, including France.
"We must send a strong political and diplomatic signal, as well as put pressure on the Israeli government to respond as quickly as possible to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza", Prevost insisted today.
"There is a moral and also a legal obligation to act. States are parties to conventions and international treaties that oblige them to take every action to prevent the commission of genocide", he continued. "Let us therefore remain resolute defenders of international law!"
At the end of July, President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly, which will be held from 9 to 23 September in New York. More than a dozen Western governments have since called on other countries around the world to follow suit.
Belgium will join the signatories of the New York Declaration for a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question and the implementation of the two-state solution. However, from a legal perspective, the recognition of a Palestinian state through a future royal decree remains subject to two conditions: the release of all Hamas hostages and the exclusion of the Islamist group from any governing bodies in Palestine.