BRUSSELS—The recent decision of US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran and the violence at the Israel-Gaza border are high on the agenda of the summit meeting of European Union leaders Thursday in Sofia.
Bulgaria currently holds the six-month EU presidency.
EU Council President Donald Tusk said in a letter to the 28 leaders that he would ask three leaders who are signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal – British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkelt and French President Emanuel Macron – to present their assessment of the situation following the US withdrawal.
“I would like our debate to reconfirm without any doubt that as long as Iran respects the provisions of the deal, the EU will also respect it,” Tusk said.
“This is the line already discussed by our Foreign Ministers and presented by the United Kingdom, Germany and France, who are working hard to sustain the deal,” he said.
The Foreign Ministers of the three countries met earlier this week in Brussels with their Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif.
On the eve of the summit, Tusk launched a stinging attack on President Donald Trump, slamming his “capricious assertiveness” and saying the US leader acted more like an enemy than a friend.
The EU Council president urged the EU leaders to form a “united European front” against Trump’s withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal and his move to impose trade tariffs on Europe.
Tusk even compared the US administration to Europe’s traditional foes Moscow and Beijing.
“Looking at the latest decisions of President Trump, someone could even think with friends like that, who needs enemies,” Tusk told reporters.
EU leaders will also discuss the last events in Gaza and the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, a move which, after the withdrawal from the nuclear deal, has stirred up even more European anger toward Trump’s foreign policy.
The EU was not represented at the official opening of the US embassy as the bloc has expresse dits opposition to the move but several EU countries, Austria, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic attended the Jerusalem event.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has reiterated the EU’s “firm commitment” to a two-state solution, based on the 4 june 1967 lines and with Jerusalem as capital of both.
She also said the EU would continue ‘’to respect the international consensus on Jerusalem embodied in, inter alia, UN Security Council Resolution 478, including on the location of diplomatic representations until the final status of Jerusalem is resolved.’’
Regarding the violence at the Israel-Gaza border fence, the EU called on both sides, Israel and Hamas ‘’to act with utmost restraint to avoid further loss of life.’’
‘’Israel must respect the right to peaceful protest and the principle of proportionality in the use of force. Hamas and those leading the demonstrations in Gaza must ensure that they remain strictly non-violent and must not exploit them for other means,’’ Mogherini stated.