In an interviewn Teresa Ribera, a Spanish Socialist and former Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Pedro Sanchez, also lamented that ‘’it is very difficult to mobilise Europe on Gaza’’ and issued a rare rebuke of her colleagues in the European Commission.
European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera compared the suffering of civilians in Gaza to that of Jews imprisoned by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust and criticized the EU for ”idly standing by while one of the worst humanitarian scandal in history unfolds.’’
Cinsidered as the ”number two” in the EU executive body, she made the statements in an interview with Spanish radio Cadena Ser.
Ribera, who is a Spanish Socialist and former Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Pedro Sanchez, also lamented that ‘’it is very difficult to mobilise Europe on Gaza’’ and issued a rare rebuke of her colleagues in the European Commission.
Spain, which is one of the mpost anti-Israel country in the EU, has called for an overall suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and for an arms embargo to Israel.
Europe is divided on the issue of measures to be taken against Israel in response to the Gaza humanitarian crisis. The division was clearly apparent on Tuesday when the ambassadors of the 27 EU member states failed to agree by a qualified majority to adopt a proposal of the European Commission to partially suspend Israel’s participation in Horoizon Europe, the EU’s flaghsip research and innovation program. Germany and Italy, among othes, blocked the move.
“For months, practically every week,” Ribera said, she’s urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to adopt a stronger position against Israel. Von der Leyen is a member of German Chancellor Frederich Merz’s CDU Conservative party
Ribera, who is in charge of clean, just and competitive transition, said divisions in the Commission mirrored those among European leaders.
In the interview she regrets that, to date, there is still no consensus within the European Commission itself. “Europe is constructed in a peculiar way. It is important to update and understand that, faced with situations like this, Europe must react and consolidate itself as a political actor. It must mobilise those principles that inspired the construction of the European project”, she said, adding that’’ not even unanimous political condemnation by all member states has yet been achieved.’’
She said that what is happening in the Gaza Strip is “intolerable”. “We are witnessing one of the worst scandals from a humanitarian point of view.’’
She insisted that Europe ‘’must act in the face of what is happening in Gaza through trade, sanctions, diplomatic and judicial measures,’’