The Czech Republic has blocked a joint European Union statement calling for an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, meaning the EU-27 was unable to issue a unified statement on the escalating conflict, as reported by the Euronews server yesterday and confirmed by the Czech Foreign Ministry.
Czech Foreign Ministry spokesman Daniel Drake told CTK that the Czech Republic had blocked the EU statement because it “unilaterally restricted Israel’s right to self-defence against the Hezbollah terrorists who have been shelling civilians in northern Israel for months”. The Czech Republic also demanded the withdrawal of Hezbollah from Lebanon’s border with Israel.
The Czech position, confirmed to the server by several diplomats and European officials, forced EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell to issue his own statement. The Czech representation to the EU did not immediately respond to a request for a reaction, according to Euronews.
“We deplore the many civilian casualties in Lebanon, the destruction of civilian infrastructure with related long-term implications, and the high number of internally displaced persons on both sides, and once again urge the respect of International Humanitarian Law in all circumstances,” Borrell said yesterday afternoon.
“Arms should now be silenced and the voice of diplomacy should speak and be heard by all,” he added.
On Monday, Borrell held a video conference with EU foreign ministers, after which he said that any further military intervention would dramatically worsen the situation, and should be avoided. However, diplomats from the member states failed to reach a joint statement, so Borrell did not make his comments public until nearly 24 hours after the ministerial meeting.
In those comments, Borrell appealed for an “immediate ceasefire” between the warring parties and urged the “full and symmetrical implementation” of a UN Security Council resolution approved in 2006, which called for the end of hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah. “The sovereignty of both Israel and Lebanon has to be guaranteed,” he said.
Euronews writes that, “despite shared anxiety of a spiralling conflict, the behind-the-scenes struggle in Brussels to publish the joint statement lays bare the enduring disagreements between member states when it comes to addressing Israel, which has played out in both private and public since the October 7 attack by Hamas.”
The Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria are among the strongest supporters of Israel in the EU. They have pushed to water down collective action that they deemed overtly critical to Israel, and are part of a small group of countries who vote with Israel and the US to block resolutions at the United Nations.
Meanwhile several EU countries have been vocal in calling for an end to Israeli reprisals against Gaza and other states in the region, and a ceasefire in order to prevent the spiralling number of civilian casualties and displacements. Ireland, Spain and Slovenia have recognised the state of Palestine since the outbreak of the conflict.
Israeli air strikes on Lebanon have killed over 1,000 people in the past week, including the death of longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Thousands more have been injured, and the country of 5.6 million people now has more than 1 million people who have been forced to flee their homes, according to Borrell.
On Monday night, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) moved to invade parts of southern Lebanon, the first Israeli troops on Lebanese territory since the 2006 war. According to Euronews, “the invasion, launched in response to Hezbollah’s cross-border heavy fire in solidarity with Hamas, further escalates the military scope of the Middle East crisis and brings the region closer to the wide, all-out war that Western allies have long feared.”
Israel, for its part, is facing shelling from Hezbollah, and was also targeted last night by a missile attack tonight from Iran, which supports Hezbollah.
