UPDATE - EU foreign ministers gather to discuss situation in Middle East, Ukraine

ADDS MORE REMARKS FROM EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF JOSEP BORRELL

By Nur Asena Erturk

The European Union foreign ministers will gather in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is set to chair a two-day Foreign Affairs Council meeting which Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha will attend via videoconference for an informal discussion.

The ministers will also discuss the latest developments in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as other global issues, including the situation in Georgia and Moldova, the Horn of Africa, and Venezuela.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy will also attend the meeting for an informal discussion over lunch.

Borrell, at the doorstep of the meeting, told reporters that the UK and Europe were neighbors and partners sharing “the same concerns,” and “stand by Ukraine against Russia.”

“We share the same concern about the violence in the Middle East. We both call for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon and Gaza, on that we are strongly together calling for a cease-fire in the Middle East war,” Borrell said.

David Lammy, for his part, said: "The UK and Europe security is indivisible," and stressed the importance "that the United Kingdom and Europe remain steadfast and clear" in the face of the regional and global issues.

Borrell recalled that the 27 EU member states agreed to support the UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) and asked Israel to stop attacking the UN peacekeeping mission.

In a statement released late Sunday, Borrell, on behalf of the EU, said: “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.”

The statement also urged all parties to ensure the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel.

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

Early Friday, Israeli forces shelled a UNIFIL observation post at its headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, wounding two peacekeepers from the Sri Lankan contingent.

"It is completely unacceptable attacking United Nations troops," Borrell said, stressing that there is no point in blaming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres since he is not the one to decide whether UNIFIL should keep operating in the region.

"It is the Security Council who takes this kind of decision," he explained.

He also called the EU countries to adopt a unified stance about the situation in the Middle East, saying: “It is quite evident that we should be against Israelis, attacks against UNIFIL, especially because our soldiers are there… So I would appreciate if member states could reach an agreement on that quicker.”

"Famine is being used as a war arm," the EU foreign policy chief said and recalled that the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza was at its "lowest level since the beginning of the war."

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,488 people, injuring over 4,297 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed over 42,200 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon.

Borrell also emphasized that the situation in Ukraine is deteriorating as winter approaches.

“In Ukraine, the grain export has become a problem again… We have to increase our support. That is the only possible solution from our side,” he noted.