EU tries to send clear signal on Middle East crisis

Meeting for an extraordinary session in Brussels on 1 August, EU foreign ministers will address a number of issues related to the war in Lebanon.

While Israel has agreed to suspend the bombings for 48 hours, Tel Aviv will not commit to a real cease fire at this stage. That is the first hurdle that foreign ministers need to address. Will ministers be able to agree on a statement that will demand a cease fire «immediately» or rather «as soon as possible» as UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel did after the Israeli attack on Qana on 30 July.

The Finnish EU presidency put out a strong statement on 30 July, when it expressed that it was «shocked and dismayed» by the Israeli air strikes on Qana and the loss of civilian life.

Nonetheless the Finns also realise that EU ministers may have a very hard time putting up a united front, which is a potential embarrassment to the EU. So the meeting on 1 August is indeed not a presidency initiative, but set up by the Finns after pressure from France and Portugal among others.

EU ministers will also debate what next steps EU can take to secure continued relief to refugees. So far the EU has managed to evacuate most of its citizens. The next questions is what the EU can further do to help the estimated number of 100 000 - 200 000 migrant workers and their dependents from developing countries.

Even if a ceasefire is not immediately in perspective, the question of a future international UN-mandated peacekeeping force, and the European participation in such a force, will also figure high on the agenda.

It is a unique chance for the EU to work as a soft power in the region. But existing strains on a number of EU countries, such as the UK in Irak, and on Germany, which has troops in Afghanistan, the Balkans and Congo, puts a question mark over what the EU will be able to deliver.

In the absence of clear signals from Brussels, the EU will have to work at conveying the message that even if not speaking with one voice, the EU is not two-tongued when it comes to the Middle East.

Source : Euractiv