Muscat, 10 October 2023
EU ministers of Foreign Affairs held an informal videoconference during which they discussed the situation in Israel and in the region following recent attacks by Hamas.
In line with the co-chairs’ statement published earlier after the 27th GCC-EU Joint Council, EU ministers in their internal meeting condemned the recent attacks, called for the protection of civilians and restraint, the release of hostages, for allowing access to food, water and medicines to Gaza in line with international humanitarian law, and opening humanitarian corridors.
Ministers also stressed the importance of preparing the aftermath of the attacks, strengthening the cooperation with regional and international players with a view to reviving the Middle East Peace Process.
The international community has to use this critical moment – this could be an awakening moment – in order to reengage with the problem of Palestine and Israel.
Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Ministers reiterated Israel’s right to self-defence, in full respect of international humanitarian law.
Ministers then discussed how to continue cooperation with the Palestinian Authority and support the Palestinian people.
We made a clear distinction between Hamas, the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority. We consider Hamas a terrorist organisation […] but the Palestinian authority is another thing, the Palestinian authority is our partner. We do not deal with Hamas but, yes, we support, we deal and we work together with the Palestinian authority. And not all the Palestinian people are terrorists. So a collective punishment against all Palestinians will be unfair and unproductive. It will be against our interests and the interest of the peace.
Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
An overwhelming majority of ministers stated that the cooperation with the Palestinian Authority should continue and EU funds should not be discontinued.
Ministers agreed that the EU will continue its engagement with all parties and maintain its financial and political support for the region. It will also make sure that its long-term commitment to a political solution based on two states survives these tragic events.
Source – EU Council
Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell after informal meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers
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Good evening, this morning we had a very important meeting between the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States and the European Union Member States to discuss about our cooperation, but also about the dramatic moments that we are living since last Saturday, when Hamas attacked Israel, with mass murders of civilians and kidnapping people.
After this meeting with our Arab friends and partners, I called a meeting of the [informal] Foreign Affairs Council. Some ministers were here in Oman, in Muscat, others from their capitals joined the meeting by videoconference. It was an important meeting in order to share our views about the situation, where we are, what is happening on the ground, the reactions, and also to inform the colleagues that were not here about the results of our meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council.
I can say that the ministers have endorsed our Communication with the Gulf [Cooperation Council]. The elements of this Communication have been retaken by the [EU] ministers once and again. All of them said what we have said in our Communication: condemnation of terrorist attack, condemnation of any attack against civilians; release of hostages; protection of civilians; respect of international humanitarian law – and it means no blockage of water, food, or electricity to the civil population in Gaza – to open humanitarian corridors; to facilitate people who have to escape the bombing from Gaza. They could leave the country through Egypt – because the Israeli border is closed.
Prepare the day after, it is the fourth time in my life that I witness a war in Gaza, the bombing of Gaza, and terrorist actions which have been retaliated by Israel on their right of defence. All ministers insisted on the idea that this has to be done according to international humanitarian law. But we have to think also about what will happen after.
For that we have to increase our cooperation with the Arab world. And we have to recalibrate and upgrade the initiative that we took some months ago together with the League of Arab States, with Egypt, with Jordan, with Saudi Arabia, in order to revive the Arab Peace Plan and to remind the world that the Palestinian problem still exists, that to make peace between Arab countries and Israel is good and necessary, but peace has also to be done with the Palestinians. Otherwise, the cycle of violence will restart again. So, we have to scale up and recalibrate our dynamic, that we wanted to create in New York, when 60 states attending the meeting declared they were in favour of the two-states solution. Because we do not know other solutions. So, we need to work to make it viable, although 30 years after the Camp David Agreement it looks further far away than ever.
In the meantime, we have to increase our humanitarian support to the victims of this tragedy, and we have to reach out to partners around the world. The international community has to use this critical moment – this could be an awakening moment – in order to re-engage with the problem of Palestine and Israel.
Israel has the right to defend [itself], but it has to be done according to the right of international law, humanitarian law. Some decisions are against this international law.
Today we had invited two ministers, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Israel [Eli Cohen] and Palestine [ Riyad al-Malki], unhappily, finally, the participation of these ministers could not be materialised. So, the [EU] ministers discussed among us, and the common denominator was a strong condemnation of terrorism, the inhumane treatment. As I said, they replicated the text of the agreement of the Communication that we did this morning with our colleagues from the Gulf Cooperation Council.
We discussed about how to continue our relationship with the Palestinian Authority. It was a clear distinction between Hamas, the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian Authority. We consider Hamas a terrorist organisation and what they have done shows – certainly – that they behave like this.
But the Palestinian Authority is another thing. The Palestinian Authority is our partner. We do not deal with Hamas, but yes, we support, we work, and we deal together with the Palestinian Authority. And not all the Palestinian people are terrorists. So, a collective punishment against all Palestinians will be unfair and unproductive. It will be against our interests, and against the interests of the peace.
So, the ministers discussed what to do and how to continue our relationship with the Palestinian Authority and supporting the Palestinian people. And it was an overwhelming majority – with maybe two or three exceptions – of the Member States stating clearly that the cooperation will the Palestinian Authority has to continue, and the funding has to continue, and the payments should not be interrupted.
Yes, the [European] Commission proposes a review, some Member States also want to do a review of how this support is being implemented, who is receiving it, in order to be sure that there is no link between our support and Hamas’ terrorist activities.
But this review should not be an excuse for delaying the implementation of our cooperation. It has to be done quickly, and I personally, with my services will push this review to be done inside the [European] Commission and in partnership with the Member States, in order to ensure that there is not this risk of leakage, and funding behind the door of any kind of terrorist activity. By the way, if – four years that we are in our official positions – we discover that we have been funding Hamas terrorist activities, someone will have to take a political responsibility for that. I do not believe it happens, but let’s check it. Some Member States are in a continuous process of verification on how the help has been provided to whom. So, it is not something extraordinary. What is extraordinary is the current circumstances that may be require a deep analysis. But Member States – many Member States – insisted on the idea that this can not to be an excuse for delaying our cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, and the payments should not be impeded by these processes. Personally, with my services, we will take care of this review is being implemented in the shorter possible terms, because our will is to continue supporting the Palestinian Authority, something completely different from Hamas. It will be a terrible mistake, in this critical moment, to stop our support to the Palestinian Authority. It will be a mistake because it will be the best present that we could give to Hamas, and it will jeopardise our interest and our partnership with the Arab world.
Since yesterday’s announcement, it has been a wave of people asking about the reason for that, and asking the European Union to continue supporting – the humanitarian support, for sure, this is not under discussion. The Commissioner [for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management] Janez Lenarčič, this morning,, has clearly explained in the meeting, that the humanitarian support and the communication of the Commission states clearly that this is not under discussion.
What we are talking about is the cooperation to the development, cooperation for public services, financing of the activities of the United Nations organisations, who provide services to the Palestinians. We will check, we will review, Member States will do the same thing, but once again, the overwhelming majority of the Member States consider that we have to continue our support to the Palestinian Authority and the payments due should not be delayed in a moment in which this Authority is in a critical moment because the Palestinian people are also suffering.
All in all, this barbaric and terrorist attack, that has caused so many casualties, so many people being killed, that has provoked a reaction from the Israeli Defence Forces, that will also cause human suffering – we insist that this has to be done according to humanitarian law, but the fact is that, at the moment, the casualties in Gaza are also increasing. 150,000 people are internally displaced, and the humanitarian situation is dire. So, we will have to support more, not less. More.
This is, I think, the 95% of the positions expressed by Member States here, and this marks the way we have to work [along]. These are sad days, but it might be an occasion to put again on the table the quest for peace in order to avoid another cycle of violence.
Thank you.
Q. You said that Israel has the right to defend following international law. Do you think they have actually followed international law with all the things they have done to the Palestinians?
As I said, some of their actions, and the United Nations have already said that, like cutting water, cutting electricity and food to a mass of civilian people, is against international law. So yes, there are some actions that are not in accordance with international law. That is a critical moment in which the reaction to the barbaric attack perpetrated by Hamas provokes a situation, in which we have to remember that the right to defence, has to be done within the international law. Everybody has to abide to international humanitarian law, and the United Nations and myself, we have pointed out that in some cases, this is not the case.
Q. When is the next tranche of aid to the Palestinians?
The aid to the Palestinians flows through different lines, we have different projects, and different programs, we support different United Nations institutions, we support different NGOs’ activities. We are the bigger [financial] supporter of the Palestinian Authority in the world. It is about €600 million a year. There are several lines. I do not know exactly when the next payment will be done, but the important thing is that there is not going to be any structural delay of the cooperation and payments. We will review, but it will not be a suspension.
Q. What do the Ministers think of Commissioner [for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér] Várhelyi regarding the suspension of development aid?
I cannot say everything that has been said inside the [Informal Foreign Affairs] Council, because there is a certain discretion in our deliberations, not everything has to be public. But I think that I have already said that the overwhelming majority was against the idea or the proposal of suspending the payments to the Palestinian Authority. This is the thing that matters. If they consider that a review has to be done, we will do a review, but this does not mean that support to the Palestinian Authority has been suspended or the payments cancelled.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-247601
Source – EEAS
EU-GCC Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting: Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell at the joint press conference with GCC Secretary General, Jassem Al Budaiwi and Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sayyid Al Busaidi
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Thank you, Minister, thank you Secretary General, thank you to all of you for your attention.
It [has been] eight years since the last meeting of the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council and its Member States. Eight years is a lot of time. This meeting was long due and has taken place in the middle of a terrible crisis which was not foreseen when we called for this meeting and prepared and organised it. Thank you very much to you Minister and to Oman for the excellent organisation of this meeting. For us it has been a very important and fruitful meeting that hands our partnership and put us in a positive trajectory both on the regional and bilateral track.
I see a very good attendance of my fellow Ministers of the European Union Member States, and of the EU Commissioner on Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, and also the EU Special Representative for the Gulf, the former Italian Minister Luigi Di Maio. This strong presence sends a strong signal of the importance that the EU attaches to its privileged partnership with the Gulf Cooperation Council and its Members. From this point of view, I’m sure we agree, the meeting has been a success.
This year, the Joint Council was of particular significance, and it has produced good results for both sides. Last year, we adopted – at the European Union – our Strategy for the Gulf and at a time where the evolving dynamics in the world geopolitics make us to need both each other, a stronger partnership, to address our common challenges.
These challenges were there before last Saturday, and will remain. But last Saturday marked a terrible crisis for the Middle East, and for the Gulf.
There have been tragic moments in the history of the Middle East. What has happened since Saturday morning is shocking, for the suffering that this attack launched by Hamas has caused – and continues to cause – to innocent civilians, and the negative impact this will have on the possibility for the two people to live side by side in peace and security.
Since last Saturday, I spoke to the Palestinian Prime Minister [Mohammad Shtayyeh] to ask the Palestinian Authority to contribute to immediate cessation of hostilities and promote the interest of the Palestinian people and the aspiration of the whole region to security and stability.
I also spoke to the Israeli Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, to express the solidarity of the European Union, in front to these terrible terrorist attacks, our strong condemnation of violence and terror and express the need to respect international humanitarian law and to prevent more civilian lives [from] being lost.
I spoke to many others in the Gulf and to other partners in the region.
And today, we agreed that the priority is to cease violence and to prevent further regional escalation. It is of utmost importance to ensure the release of hostages, as well as the protection of civilians at all times and by all parties.
In order to be concrete, in order to be well understood, let me read – with your permission – Point 21 of our Common Declaration, which summarises what I am saying:
The Joint Council express deep concern about the grave development in Israel and Gaza and condemns all attacks again civilians. It calls for the protection of civilians, reminding the parties obligation under the universal principal of the international humanitarian law. It further calls for restraint the release of hostages and allowing access to food, water, and medicines, according with international humanitarian law, and it stresses the urgent need for a political solution to the crisis to avoid repeating this vicious cycle of violence in the future as it has happened in the past.
The European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council Ministers are resolved to deploy a violent and urgent restrain and calm on all sides and agreed to continue consultations and to remain engaged.
The Council supports the initiative taken by Saudi Arabia, the European Union, the League of Arab States, together with Egypt and Jordan, to revise the Middle East Peace Process. We reiterated our commitment to a two-state solution, because it is the only solution. We don’t know any other [way]. Based in 1977 lines in accordance with Arab Peace Initiative and relevant United Nations resolutions. They stress the importance of sustained financial support for UNRWA and to continue the humanitarian and development support for the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
This is the result of a long and intense engagement and discussion, and frank and open exchange among us.
Then, there are other issues on which we have been engaging discussions. I want to stress the importance that we continue giving to the two-state solution. At the same time, there are other crises in the world. We talk about – not less dangerous – the [Russian] aggression against Ukraine, that has unleashed a spiral of violence and devastation. We talk about the situation in Yemen and in Sudan that [are] destabilising the region, [these] are few examples of the challenges we are called to address together.
The latest drone attack on a military camp at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen border that has killed three Bahraini soldiers – for which I extend our condolences – and the continuous contentious decision taken by the Iraqi Court vis-à-vis Kuwait, indicate that continued efforts are an imperative for ensuring peace and stability in the region.
We want -the European Union together- with you, dear friends and colleagues from the Council Cooperation to reaffirm our mutual and strong interest in a strategic partnership in order to be able to develop maritime security, to face cyber threats, disaster preparedness and counter-terrorism.
We welcome today the official launching of a Security Dialogue and high-level forum for regional security, that will take place in Riyadh at the beginning of next year.
We discussed about the humanitarian needs worldwide, how to increase and strengthen our cooperation to reinforce the quality, quantity, and effectiveness of our humanitarian assistance.
Our trade relations remain a key shared interest. We need to increase them in order to stimulate business cooperation.
We also discussed about the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor launched at G20, that promises a tremendous opportunity for growth, job creation, and shared prosperity. We discussed about climate change and green transition, that will be addressed in COP28, where we will be working in cooperation.
Finally, we reiterated the importance of fostering people-to-people contacts, as the only effective means to promote inclusive societies, founded on mutual understanding and respect for diversity, fighting against any kind of hate, and founded on mutual respect for diversity, from the point of view of religions, ethnicity, and whatever differences there are among human beings, because at the end, we remain – all of us – human beings.
Thank you.
Q&A
Q . You spoke about the partnership between the GCC and the European Union, which means more cooperation in tourism and the economic sector, and this will lead us on the topic of visas. Don’t you think that the visa exception is a necessity in this time for the GCC citizens?
Thank you. Well, yes, I understand the issue of visas is a very sensitive issue too [that] we have been discussing. You know that the visa decision [is] taken by the Member States – but the European Union Institutions have certainly an influential role on that. The European Union [has] decided on visa adaptations to facilitate the essence of multiple entry visas for Gulf countries nationals travelling to Europe.
This is, I think, an important improvement. It is not the final solution, but it is certainly and improvement because it allows such visas cascade that have received already granted to the five GCC partners given that the United Arab Emirates are already exempt from visa requirement. This will allow the citizens of these countries to benefit from long term visas easily, from one to five years. So, not for each and one of the travels, but as a package for a period of time. This is not the definitive solution, but it is certainly a strong improvement on the current situation.
Q. Does the EU in its meeting today, are you going to take effective measures to pressure Israel to stop their attacks on the civilians especially with the great escalation that we have seen with the airstrikes yesterday, and yesterday night?
Yes, certainly I want to respond. Well first, this is going to be an informative council, not a formal council because it is taking place out of the premises of the European Union and it is informal, which means that the Ministers will discuss politically about the situation. I thought it was a good idea since many of the Ministers are here in Oman and others could join us by video conference to analyse and to know better among us the situation after last Saturday. I am sure the Ministers will agree with the “communiqué” that we have agreed with you. And this agreement is everything that could be said, because if we condemn all attacks against civilians, and all means all, [we] call for the protection of civilians, and remind the obligation of fulfilling universal principles of international humanitarian law. It means that when [on] the ground Israel has the right to defend [itself] – certainly it has [it], but it has to be implemented according with the principles of international humanitarian law and we call for the release of hostages, and we call for the access to food, water, medicines which is also according to international humanitarian law; and we call for a need for a political solution, that could avoid once and again this cycle of violence. And certainly, we reject the terrorism acts that have created so much pain and, certainly from our understanding, not support the Palestinian cause. I think that the discussion of the Ministers will be following tonight and the agreement that we have been able to reach with our colleagues and friends from the Gulf could be a good pattern for our discussion this afternoon.
Q. We know that Oman has played a good role in JCPOA. Did you discuss any solution with the Omani side to revive the JCPOA?
Well, I have been talking my Omani friends and Ministers about a lot of things. Among them, certainly, the good work that the Omani diplomacy is doing in many fields, on mediation and communication between the parties. I know that Oman has an important role, is playing an important role for example and with respect to Yemen, but also has important contacts that could be useful for the development of the JCPOA, but this, in particular, has not been delt in the meeting. What we have been talking during the meeting and, I want to stress, is that to diffuse some false information about for example that Germany was going to cancel the support to the Palestinian authority. The German Ministers has clearly stated that this was not the case at all, that Germany will continue providing the support. Certainly, looking at the further developments and the medium and long terms but not suspending them. One of the parts of our resolutions, was stressing the importance of continuing humanitarian development and aid in the occupied Palestinian territories and the West Bank to the supporting Palestinian authority. From this point of view, as you know, it has already been clarified that there will not be suspension of the due payments to funds to Palestine from the European Union Commission.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-246707
Source – EEAS