Arab countries ask EU to stop 'Israel's impunity' in Union for the Mediterranean forum in Barcelona

More than 40 states attended the 9th Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) forum in Barcelona this Monday to discuss the conflict in the Middle East, as Israel has expanded the war to the south of Lebanon and the Israeli army continues its attacks on Gaza. 

The Union for the Mediterranean is an intergovernmental organization that unites the member states of the European Union and 16 countries from the south and east of the Mediterranean, including Israel and Palestine.  

As in the previous occasion, no Israeli representation attended the forum, while Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, the foreign affairs minister of Palestine, was present in Barcelona.  

This is the second meeting that takes place after the October 7 attacks by Hamas. The conflict established the agenda of the previous UfM forum, which took place in 2023 shortly after the attacks.

However, the situation this year is "more tense, tragic and complicated" as the war continues and Israel has "amplified its military operations" to Lebanon, Nasser Kamel, secretary-general of the Union for the Mediterranean, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN), on an interview before the forum. 

During the meeting this Monday, the foreign affairs minister of Jordan and UfM co-president, Ayman Safadi, asked his European counterparts to stop Israel's "impunity" warning that international law and "European values" are being "violated".  

"Enough killing has been done," Safadi said, as he sees that EU's credibility is at risk in its foreign actions. 

Josep Borrell, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the European Union, assured that the war in Ukraine has not diminished the EU's commitment to the Middle East and has reiterated their call for a ceasefire. 

Borrell emphasized the need to "establish a two-state solution" and stated that "it is the most critical humanitarian situation since World War II." 

The Spanish minister of foreign affairs, José Manuel Albares, reiterated the need to advance in the "consensus to achieve peace and stability in the region" and defended that European and Arab countries back the Palestinian authorities for the "stabilization and reconstruction" of Gaza. 

Before the meeting took place, the Catalan president Salvador Illa received all the ministers attending the forum.  

Illa also had a personal meeting with Kamel where they both highlighted the importance of the conference in Barcelona, as it is one of the few discussion forums where most of the countries participate.