EU leaders look set to focus on Iran — where there is little they can achieve — while still failing to flex real muscle against Putin in Ukraine.
Two conflicts will compete for the attention of EU leaders meeting for a summit this week. There is one — Ukraine — where they can make a difference, and another — Iran-Israel — where they can’t.
It seems paradoxical, then, that the Middle East — a theater of war where the U.S. is infinitely more influential than Europe — will probably consume more attention than Ukraine — an EU candidate country that is desperately pleading for more European assistance as the tide turns against it, and Russian forces pummel Kharkiv, its second city.
Still, the EU seems determined to go through the diplomatic motions of appearing to be a global power that might be able to sway notoriously stubborn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It seems paradoxical, then, that the Middle East — a theater of war where the U.S. is infinitely more influential than Europe — will probably consume more attention than Ukraine — an EU candidate country that is desperately pleading for more European assistance as the tide turns against it, and Russian forces pummel Kharkiv, its second city.
Still, the EU seems determined to go through the diplomatic motions of appearing to be a global power that might be able to sway notoriously stubborn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The advantage to Paris of being part of an anti-Iran coalition would be to try to hold back Israeli hawks, but there is no doubting that it’s the messaging from U.S. President Joe Biden that really matters.
“During Iran’s attack against Israel, some Western countries contributed to protecting Israeli skies as an important act of solidarity,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told POLITICO.
Russian attacks on Ukraine “underscore the urgency of intensifying our delivery of military assistance, notably air defence capabilities,” European Council President Charles Michel said in his invitation letter to leaders.
“The whole Western policy up till now has been to provide us with the weaponry and ammunition calculated to ensure Ukraine doesn’t lose, but not necessarily win,” said opposition lawmaker Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.
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