EU unites in pressing Israel to stop attacking UN forces

LUXEMBOURG — Israel’s latest attack on United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon appears to have crossed a line for European countries — even those traditionally supportive of its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
After hours of negotiations, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell got all of the bloc’s 27 countries to sign up to a joint statement late on Sunday condemning Israel’s attacks against U.N. missions after 15 U.N. personnel were injured during the Israel Defense Forces’ forced entry into their Lebanese base.
The EU “expresses particularly grave concern regarding the attacks by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which left several peacekeepers wounded,” the statement said. “These attacks must stop immediately.”
The move marks a departure from previous EU attempts to take a unified stance on Israel’s military actions, given the radical divergence between more critical countries like Spain and Ireland, and those who are more sympathetic: Germany, Austria and Hungary.
Over a year into Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, EU countries have yet to issue an unanimous statement on the war.
It remains to be seen if EU countries will adopt sanctions against Israel, which Borrell was pushing on Monday. Two diplomats said they don’t expect this to pass.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said Monday that the attacks are “unacceptable,” adding that some 120 Austrian soldiers were part of the U.N. mission in Lebanon.
“Austria is not a bystander,” he added. “No, they [Austrian troops] will not withdraw. Yes, they will continue to fulfill the mandate.”
“We have reached out to our Israeli friend to make our position clear,” Schallenberg said before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
Finland, which last month defended its decision to keep buying Israeli arms, also stressed the presence of 200 Finnish troops in the U.N. mission.
“We are very concerned about the safety of these peacekeepers, who are carrying out an extremely important mission,” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told POLITICO. “So I’m very pleased that together as the European Union, we were … able to formulate a clear message towards Israel in this regard.”
Her Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp, meanwhile, said he called Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Sunday.
“I have expressed that this is unacceptable. They should stop, and it should be investigated as soon as possible,” Veldkamp said, adding that he also condemned Hezbollah’s attack on a retirement facility near Tel Aviv, which is home to Holocaust survivors of Dutch origin.