Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The defense ministers of the European Union countries concluded discussions that began at the level of foreign ministers on Thursday and then expanded to the level of defense ministers on Friday, and addressed files related to the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East region, the Red Sea, and other issues related to European defense.
A European statement issued in Brussels quoted what Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy coordinator, said during a closing press conference, "After discussing the Ukraine file, we moved to the Middle East, the regional escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. We discussed this with the foreign ministers. The ministers expressed their support for the ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

Another issue of great concern is - I can say this - the war in the West Bank. The UN Secretary-General [Antonio Guterres] yesterday called for a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli military operations in the West Bank, which have resulted in a large number of casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.

We are very concerned that the war scenario now seems to be moving from Gaza to the West Bank. This is also a means of threatening regional stability. Escalation must be avoided. Let us hope that the UN Secretary-General's appeal will be heard.

We will support the Lebanese Armed Forces, and we are already doing so with the European Peace Facility. We need more support, and this requires additional funding next year.

We have briefed the UN Under-Secretary-General [Jean-Pierre] Lacroix on the UN efforts in the region. You know how difficult it is for UN agencies – not just UNRWA, but many UN agencies – to work in Israel and the occupied territories, including Gaza. We express our strong support for the UN and our rejection of the designation of a terrorist organization as a UN agency.

Then we went to the Red Sea and the Gulf.

We noticed that the Houthis are launching more sophisticated attacks. The recent attack on the Greek-flagged ship Sounion last week is the latest serious escalation of threats to shipping in the Red Sea. We have [EU Naval Force] ASPIDES fully operational.
The number of ships passing through the Suez Canal is decreasing. We need more ships. We need more troops.
I have asked member states to increase the capacity of ASPIDES.
In the meantime, the balance is good. Operation ASPIDES has successfully protected more than 217 commercial ships and destroyed 22 missiles and drones launched by the Houthis.
Now, the big issue is to avoid an environmental disaster with the oil that the Sounion was transporting. A solution will be found, and we will cooperate on this.
[Operation] ASPIDES certainly contributes to restoring confidence in shipping and encouraging it to return to its original routes through the Red Sea.

But for that, ASPIDES needs to have the assets it requires. I have called on Member States to step up their contribution.

We also need to address the continued flow of illicit arms to the Houthis. We are looking at what we can do, and we will discuss this further in the context of the strategic review of ASPIDES in November.