Spain’s foreign minister decries EU double standards on Gaza, Ukraine

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spain’s foreign minister on Thursday urged the EU to do more about the attacks on Gaza and warned that the bloc’s double standards on Palestinians and Ukraine are growing more and more obvious.

“It’s a matter of upholding international law. If the EU doesn’t speak united on that, I don’t know who in the world will,” said Jose Manuel Albares at a European Council on Foreign Relations conference in Madrid.

Albares lamented how the EU was able to speak with one voice on Russia’s attack on Ukraine and Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel last Oct. 7 but not on Israel’s apparent violations of international legal conventions.

The Spanish foreign minister said his nation is trying to push for more unity in the bloc, including taking actions against Israel to pressure it to obey the law.

He said Spain joined South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) because of “clear” Israeli violations of conventions, such as the systematic destruction of infrastructure for basic services and putting obstacles to the entrance of aid.

“Words cannot describe the dystopia of what Gaza has become,” said Sigrid Kaag, the UN Gaza coordinator, during the panel discussion with Albares.

“We are dealing with the highest levels of food insecurity, the absence of shelter, clean water, latrines – all the elements of basic human dignity,” added Kaag.

She called on Europe to live up to being a “beacon of standards and norms,” and act credibly on the issue.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, also in the discussion, thanked Spain for its leadership on the issue and for recognizing the Palestine state, saying it offers “a sliver of hope” amid the bleak situation.

But he urged Europe to take action, even something as simple as a unified condemnation when Israel fails to live up to its responsibility to allow civilians to access aid.

“This is not just standing up for your principles, it’s also in Europe’s interest, and I would argue in Israel’s interest. Europe should stand up and tell Israel to stop. The only pathway for sustainable peace, and this is something we all believe in in the region, has to be through the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he said.

“This is a watershed moment that everyone is watching and asking whether Europe stands by principles and wants to be an actor on the global stage, or whether it only acts when it's in its own neighborhood,” he added.