/Pogled.info/ With the hijacking of the ship “Galaxy Leader” in the Red Sea, of which the captain and assistant captain are Bulgarian citizens, the crisis in Gaza is already beyond Israel’s borders. The biggest instrument of influence is the transportation of oil through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is controlled by Yemen, Djibouti and Eritrea. This was commented by Elena Yoncheva, MEP from the group of socialists and democrats, in an interview for the program “Who is speaking” on Darik radio. n
There are Bulgarians and Romanians on this ship, they are EU citizens and Europe must find a mechanism to solve the problem, she added. Already tomorrow, Elena Yoncheva will raise the issue before the European Commission during the main debate in the plenary hall of the European Parliament in Strasbourg – about the situation in the Middle East.
The Galaxy Leader was taken to the Red Sea city of Hudeidah, which is de jure under the control of the United Nations, but in practice is controlled by the Yemeni Houthis. The main goal of the Houthis and the lever they will use is oil, the MEP told Darik radio. Two-thirds of Europe’s oil passes through the Suez Canal, and control of the sea lanes affects the price. By hijacking the ship, the Houthis show that they can use their strategic position to make it difficult to transport the oil.
Europe is the biggest victim of radicalization in the Middle East. It is also the largest humanitarian donor to the Gaza Strip. At the same time, the European Union lost its influence, Elena Yoncheva also said.
The MEP drew attention to the discussions in the European Commission (EC) about the way in which humanitarian aid to Gaza should be continued or not. According to unofficial information, a similar discussion is coming today or in the coming days, and the European Commissioners are in different positions. Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhei is preparing to propose additional conditions for the next tranche – that it not reach people and NGOs who sympathize with Hamas and hold anti-Semitic views. This position meets resistance, Elena Yoncheva reported. According to inside information, 11 European commissioners believe that such conditions cannot be set and cannot be met. The MEP recalled that shortly after the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, Oliver Varhei asked Brussels to completely stop aid to Gaza, but the High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell and the President of the EC Ursula von der Leyen objected to this.
Hamas cannot be completely destroyed physically. The reasons for its existence must be eliminated, is the position of Elena Yoncheva. According to her, the way is through the creation of a Palestinian state that would exist peacefully alongside Israel.
When asked about the role of Europe in international relations, Elena Yoncheva recalled that in 2014 in Ukraine, France, Germany and Poland were guarantors of the peaceful transition of power. But these efforts failed and civil war ensued. In 2015, the guarantor of the Minsk agreements was once again European countries. Failure again. Europe is not strategically autonomous, she commented. And today, an end to the war in Ukraine can only be achieved through negotiations between the US and Russia. Europe is gone.
Europe is increasingly losing its influence, according to Elena Yoncheva. When the Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992, the leaders had the ambition, the belief that this economic and political model would turn Europe into an independent geostrategic factor and be able to prevail over the great powers to defend their interests.
In less than 20 years, Europe has lost its weight.
In 2003, in Iraq, Europe resisted. France, along with other European countries, refused to participate in the “coalition of the willing”. Very strong was the speech of Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin at the UN Security Council, who warned what would happen to the Middle East and Europe if a military intervention was carried out in Iraq. And he was right, she said.
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