Belgian FM says EU credibility collapsing over Gaza genocide inaction
The comments from Brussels come as a top EU official calls Israel's campaign in Gaza a genocide
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot told AFP in Brussels on 5 September that the EU’s credibility on foreign policy is “collapsing” due to its failure to act over Israel’s war in Gaza.
“It is undeniable, we are not going to bury our heads in the sand, that the European Union at this stage is not living up to its responsibilities in this enormous humanitarian crisis,” the Foreign Minister said.
He added that “in the eyes of the public, the credibility of the European Union’s foreign policy on this particular issue is collapsing.”
Prevot confirmed Belgium will recognize the State of Palestine at this month’s UN General Assembly and impose unilateral sanctions against Israel.
He said the measures are intended to send a “strong political and diplomatic signal” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The recognition, Prevot explained, will take legal effect through royal decree, conditional on the release of captives held by Hamas and the group’s exclusion from Palestinian governance.
He said the aim was to “put pressure on the Israeli government to respond as quickly as possible to the humanitarian emergency” in Gaza.
“There is a moral obligation, and there is also a legal imperative to act; countries are parties to international conventions and treaties that oblige them to take all necessary measures to prevent genocide from occurring,” the foreign minister said.
“We must be proactive defenders of international law.”
The EU’s executive had in July proposed cutting funding to Israeli start-ups, but the move has not received majority backing among the bloc’s 27 members.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron said France would also recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly scheduled between 9 and 23 September in New York.
Over a dozen other western states have since urged similar recognition, and the global public opinion has sharply shifted against Israel.
On 4 September, European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera drew harsh condemnation from Israel after calling its assault on Gaza a genocide.
Addressing students at Sciences Po in Paris, Ribera said “the genocide in Gaza exposes Europe’s failure to act and speak with one voice.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry denounced Ribera as a “mouthpiece for Hamas propaganda,” rejecting her statements as “baseless allegations.”
Ribera has previously described the starvation, displacement, and killing in Gaza as resembling genocide and called for reconsidering the EU’s Association Agreement with Israel.