A senior EU official affirmed that a new strategic plan for the Middle East is being prepared under the new incoming EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas who will replace Josep Borrell next week.
Michael Mann, who is current head of division for Israel, the Palestinian Territories and the Middle East Peace Process at the EU External Action Service, said this new policy will include a clear demand on the Palestinian Authority to reform.
’’Future EU aid to the PA will be conditional on these reforms, which include removal of hateful content in school textbooks as well as other funding mechanisms which do not comply with a peaceful co-existence with Israel,” he said.
He was speaking last week at the annual policy conference of the European Coalition for Israel (ECI) which took place in the European Parliament in Brussels.
The EU official responded to a call by ECI Director Tomas Sandell for an extensive review over EU aid to the Palestinian Authority, a Truth Commission, which received wide support from several Members of the European Parliament.
Michael Mann also pointed out that the EU needs to engage with the new US administration from day one in order to take on the current global challenges, including the threats from Iran and Russia. This will mean that also the EU will toughen its stance on Iran while looking for ways to promote the normalisation process within the Abraham Accords framework. The message was well received at the conference which explored ways for the EU to promote normalisation and prevent radicalisation in the Middle East.
Tomas Sandell described the transition of power in Washington and Brussels in the coming weeks and months as a defining moment in history.
“Either we slip into a path of more chaos and instability or we change course and embark on a journey of peace of prosperity,” he said. “But in order to charter this new course we need a break with the past and this is where the revision comes in. Only when we learn from past mistakes are we able to create the conditions for a brighter future in the Middle East and around the world,’’ he added.
The conference also heard an Iranian-born human rights advocate in Europe who lives under constant death threats from the Islamic Republic due to her activities to promote reforms and human rights in Iran.
“How can it be that while I live and work in Europe, I do not feel safe because of the reach of the Islamic regime and its terrorist network.” she asked. Speaking about the ongoing executions of human rights activists in Iran and the tens of thousands who are in prison for political reasons she called for maximum pressure to be applied on the Islamic Republic while at the same time extending maximum support to the Iranian opposition.
She however did not support a military intervention but stressed that it is only the Iranian people themselves who can achieve a regime change. This can be done in a peaceful way by preventing sanctions circumvention. The first step to make the sanctions more effective is to target individuals, not companies. A sanctioned company can register under a new name within a day whereas individuals cannot escape the sanctions in the same way.
The ECI Annual Policy Conference included young adults from fifteen European nations who apart from participating in the conference also took part in the second annual ECI Youth Academy to learn how to become more effective advocates in the combat against antisemitism and in promoting good relations between Europe and Israel.