Opening statements by Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission. Parliament evaluates the escalating violence in the Middle East and the latest developments in Lebanon with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. This discussion follows the anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,200 Israelis on 7 October 2023, and which has since triggered ongoing conflict in Gaza and broader regional instability. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

EU - Iran (T)

EU - Israel (T)

EU - Palestine (T)

EU - Lebanon (T)

BORRELL FONTELLES, Josep (PSE, ES, EC)

Situation in the Middle East (T)

Escalation of violence in the Middle East and the situation in Lebanon: opening statement by Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Ladies and gentlemen. Honourable members of this Parliament. Yesterday we were talking about the fact that it is one year since the conflict broke out, since the conflict began in Gaza. And then that has spread further and further. So yesterday we spoke about Gaza. And if you go to the Rafah border, which is now closed, and you can hear explosions and you can see the stores full of donations from throughout the world.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, And yet these donations cannot come in. They are rebuffed. They are sent away for futile reasons. A sleeping bag can't come in because it's green or a small pair of scissors can't be brought in because it's classified as a dangerous weapon. That's what's happening at the Gaza border. But now this conflict has spread throughout the region, it is now affecting the south of Lebanon. We cannot disentangle everything that it is happening.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Hezbollah sent rockets into Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, which is occupied. And then on the 8th of October, this happened on the 8th of October, immediately after the seventh, in solidarity with Hamas. And then, and this happened in Israeli on Israeli territory. This led to 45 deaths and 70,000 displaced persons, people leaving their houses and territories. Now Israel has bombed Lebanon and there have been shootings on the blue line and troops entered Lebanese territory.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, The bombings are incredibly strong. According to figures, some 20% of the Lebanese population have been forced to move. They are displaced persons. 150,000 have gone to Syria and the victims have been estimated at 2,000. So the city bombings don't just affect certain neighbourhoods where there is infrastructure. No, the centres of towns are being affected too.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, We have spoken out against Hezbollah's attacks on Israel over recent months, and there was international mediation led by France and the U.S. The aim there was to bring down the tension and to end the spread of war. There was a proposal put forward to have a cease fire. The EU was involved in that attempt, together with France, the US and various Arab states. We asked for a resolution, resolution 1701, is some 20 years old, and yet still has not been applied.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, On the 27th of September, the 27 member states called once again for a ceasefire. We thought that Netanyahu's government was part of prior negotiations. We thought that he was on board but the crisis has further spiralled and the bombings continue. Lebanon is a very unstable country. It's unstable because within the state there is another state which Hezbollah, which is a puppet of Iran. Hezbollah has a civil arm. It has members in the Lebanese government. It has members who are members of parliament. And then it has a military. which we classify as a terrorist organisation. is

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, We do not have contact with that, but we do speak to the civil arm of Hezbollah, which has members in Parliament. It represents an important minority in the region. The Lebanese situation is getting worse by the day. Hundreds of thousands of people, as I said, about 20% of the population are now forced to move. Communication tools with Syria have been affected. Syrian migrants, Syrian exiles are trying to get back to Syria so that they are no longer subjected to the Lebanese situation.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Of course, that will have an effect for us. The EU has made some €40 million of humanitarian aid available, the aim being to help those who have been affected by events in the last week. And we are working together with the member states to have a consular operation. So that we can get our nationals back. Some 45,000 of them in Lebanon. But at the moment it doesn't seem as though. There's a lot of, activity there.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, It's very important that we achieve a ceasefire through diplomatic means. Of course, Lebanon is grappling with a gone major political internal problem which needs to be solved by the people. There is institutional weakness in Lebanon, which has on for decades. And the elites in that country shoulder an enormous responsibility. The explosion at the port of Beirut. After that, President Macron went to Beirut and pointed out that the political elite of the country should try to save their country. But since that visit, nothing has happened.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, The army is the backbone of the country, but the army is still a very weak entity, finds it difficult to pay its soldiers. For instance, various foreign countries do fund the Lebanese army and its military capacity doesn't make it possible to be a counterweight to Hezbollah, nor can the army ensure the territorial integrity of the country in the face of an attack from its neighbour, Israel.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, There are some 10,000 Unifil soldiers who at this moment are in their bunkers, because in the middle of the bombing all that they soldiers can do is try to protect themselves. Let me stress that without a strong compromise, without political reform within Lebanese society led by the Lebanese people and agents, without all of that, nothing can happen. No one can replace them and do for them what needs to be done. The Lebanese political class needs to take control of the country and lead it.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, I think there are four indispensable pieces of action that needs to be taken. The president of the Republic needs to be elected. There hasn't been one for two years. I recently travelled to Lebanon and spoke to Mr. Betti, the head of the parliament and with the Prime Minister. But the elections have not taken place because it needs to be a specific person as a specific minority. And there's no way to break that gridlock. Because every post needs to belong to a specific religious collective. That's what Lebanon is based on. So it needs to be a Christian who heads up this position.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, But at the moment, there is no way to elect a president. It's just not possible. So there is gridlock. It now seems that given the major challenges caused by the bombings on both sides of the border and due to the bombings in Beirut, and due to the entry of Israeli troops in Lebanon, the elections which have not yet taken place, perhaps they could take place now, but that's so important. If a country doesn't have a president, then that country's going to find it difficult to undertake reforms.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, A second important issue is support for the Lebanese army. It must, again, be truly belong to Lebanon, as any army must do. It must be an independent force which defends its borders. We have provided financial commitments to the Lebanese Forces through the European Peace Facility. But of course it is not enough. A great deal more needs to be done. Of course, there needs to be a consensus within Lebanon to do so.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Resolution 1701 constitutes the legal framework for the deployment of the Lebanese army, but it needs to have the wherewithal to deploy itself. And none of that can happen without strong political will. Third, Unifil needs to be granted a stronger mandate so that it can ensure peace at the borders once again. This doesn't seem very realistic given the current circumstances, but we all know what the occupation of southern Lebanon means.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, It's not the first time that Lebanon has been invaded by Israel. Israel invaded Lebanon. In the past, it's done it three times. In fact, in 1978, in 1982, and in the year 2000. And it has happened again. But I mustn't forget. In fact, one of these was a long period. And then there was also the 2006 invasion. So we actually talking about the fourth.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Hezbollah was born from the 1982 invasion. Hezbollah has developed a great deal over time, and it has become a major force of resistance. At the beginning, it was a resistance force, and now it is an organisation with strong ties with Iran. And now it has become a state within a state. deep rooted problem in an area such as you do in the Middle East, and especially when you have weak institutions

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, If the UN forces are not strengthened, it will be difficult to affect change in the region and it will be difficult to prevent, Lebanon from becoming another Gaza, especially if you look at the current intensity of the war. Now, a fourth area of action is the following. Provide material and humanitarian support, because at the moment Lebanon is suffering so, so much. As I say, 20% of the population is displaced. Who could take 20% of the people into their homes or onto their territory? And then there's also the huge, huge number of casualties. I've already mentioned the recent, number of casualties, but the number is only going up.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, President Macron would like to have a humanitarian conference on Lebanon, and that should happen. If that happens, then displaced persons could return. We know that on Israel side rather 70,000 displaced persons and, on the Lebanese side, there's some 2 million. And that's a notable difference. Of course, there are major security issues. There's the issue of rebuilding a state. There's also the massive amount of money that would be needed to rebuild this country.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, The Commission president promised €1 billion to rebuild Lebanon. We need to set a timeframe for the release of those funds, because what we often do is say that we're going to provide funds, but we don't set a timeframe. You know, we're talking about a billion all at once, front loaded over a month, over the course of a year.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, I think the EU should set timelines for the funds that it promises. But we have made that commitment and we should honour it. This is a moment of truth for Lebanon and the Lebanese people. They also need to show that their responsibilities, including the political class, and that starts with electing a president, and that starts with a government that can actually function because what it currently has, what the country currently has is a caretaker government.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, I spoken with my Lebanese counterpart, and I know the difficulties that country is facing. We must help this country and we must seize this opportunity. It is a moment of weakness, but we need to reform Lebanon's political structures and we need to ensure a ceasefire in the region. As I say, Israel has, already invaded four times. After every invasion. One has to ask themselves a question. Did Israel become safer after this, or were these, Pyrrhic victories?

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Many in Israel think that what Israel has done is not made it safer. Now, quite the contrary. The North is facing a worse situation, and it has just bolstered Hezbollah and another military intervention. Would it lead to something different? I don't think so. History shows that military solutions don't work. If you have a deeprooteed problem in an area, such in the middle east, and especially when you have weak institutions in a country.

'SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, So we must bear all of this in mind when we consider further action. And as I say, it's a moment of truth, but also a moment of truth for us. Are we truly able to help Lebanon? But more than ever, we need to say to the Lebanese political class, you are responsible without them, that no country can find a solution.