Denmark voices concern over Israel’s demand for UN peacekeepers to leave southern Lebanon

By Ebad Ahmed

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AA) - Denmark on Monday expressed concern over Israel's demand for the UN peacekeeping forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon, local media reported.

"It is no use that the international community starts to withdraw. (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu turns the pyramid upside down by saying that it is the UN that must withdraw,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen was quoted as saying by national broadcaster DR.

Netanyahu has no ground to make that demand, Rasmussen told reporters ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

Airing his concerns over Israeli relations with the global community and the UN, he called Israel to reassess its diplomatic positioning.

“It is simply not possible to say it in plain Danish. Unfortunately, it also paints a picture of an Israeli relationship with the United Nations that is not good and that Israel needs to reassess,” he said.

Rasmussen’s remarks came in the backdrop of the two-day EU foreign ministers meeting scheduled to discuss the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine.

On Sunday, Joseph Borrell, EU's foreign policy chief, urged all parties to ensure the safety and security of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) personnel.

“We urgently await explanations and a thorough investigation from the Israeli authorities about the attacks against UNIFIL, which plays a fundamental role in the stability of South Lebanon,” Borrell said in a statement.

UNIFIL said on Sunday that two Israeli tanks destroyed the gate to the UN peacekeeping site in Ramyah, southern Lebanon.