Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel highlighted the urgency of a unified approach to the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts during a meeting of EU FMs in Kirchberg, advocating for peace and new sanctions against Iranian missile and drone production.
EU foreign ministers convened in Kirchberg on Monday to deliberate about the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and in the Middle East, with six Gulf states representatives also joining.
"It is not about being against Israel or Palestine, I am against the war", Luxembourg FM Xavier Bettel underlined after the crisis meeting, further noting that achieving a unilateral position on the matter is of upmost importance.
Bettel acknowledged that there are too many opinion differences at the moment: "We need to achieve a two-state solution, because peace in Palestine will bring peace in Israel. And to that end as many countries as possible need to charter the same course."
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Nevertheless, full recognition of a Palestinian state is tied to a number of conditions, according to Luxembourg's top diplomat: "A Palestinian government would have to commit to freeing hostages and working towards peace."
Bettel revealed that new sanctions targeting Iranian missile and drone production were taken on Monday: "We saw that even despite Iraq still located between Israel and Iran, hundreds of drones were fired into Israel. And after all, we are also trying to limit the number of victims in Ukraine and with Iran being an enabler of Russian killings, it is in our interest to reduce the amount as much as possible."
Bettel stressed that the sanctions are not designed to provoke, but to further a cause.
