The high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said this Saturday that “we must prevent” the situation in the Middle East from becoming “explosive”, after the United States attacks on pro-Iranian positions in Iraq and Syria, and the Israelis in Rafah, south of Gaza.
“Everyone should try to prevent the situation in the region from becoming explosive,” Borrell said in statements to the press, upon his arrival at the informal meeting held today in Brussels by EU foreign ministers.
The head of European diplomacy pointed out that the Middle East is “a pot that can explode”, with attacks on the border between Israel and Lebanon, as well as in Syria, Iraq or the Red Sea, intensified since the war in Gaza began last year. October 7.
Borrell said that all these attacks are related to each other, causing a “domino effect”, so he asked “everyone to try to avoid an escalation.”
US attacks targets in Iraq and Syria
The United States yesterday attacked dozens of targets in Iraq and Syria, allegedly linked to Iran, in retaliation for last week’s drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.
The Belgian Foreign Minister, Hadja Lahbib, expressed her concern about these attacks and assured that “containment and diplomacy” is the only way to reduce tension in the Middle East, given that “violence is never an answer.”
Instead, his Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski, assured that pro-Iran groups in the region “have played with fire for months and years and now they are burning.”
Spain calls for an end to terrorist attacks against the US
The Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, called for an end to terrorist attacks against the United States in the area, while his counterpart from the Netherlands, Hanke Bruins Slot, pointed out that it is important that the American president, Joe Biden, has assured that He does not want an escalation of tension.
The US attacks coincide with an increase in Israeli bombing in Rafah, a situation about which the Belgian minister was “extremely concerned.”
Borrell stressed that “there are a million people in southern Gaza who have progressively moved towards the Egyptian border” and recalled that the Israeli authorities “claimed that it was a safe area, but in reality what we see is that the bombings continue. affect the civilian population”.
“This is creating a very serious situation,” he concluded.
German State Secretary for Europe and Climate Anna Lührmann said it is “irresponsible to speculate about possible aggression in Rafah.”