The question of who will succeed Josep Borrell as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy remains crucial for Israel, according to EU Reporter.
Tomas Sandell, Director and Founder of the European Coalition for Israel (ECI), stated:
The results of the European elections seem to indicate that the next 720-member European Parliament has the potential to become more pro-Israel.
The European People’s Party and the S&D (Social-Democrat) will remain the largest political groups in parliament. They will be joined by the European Conservative and Reformist (ECR) and the Identity and Democracy (ID).
Future alliances may change and will influence nominations for top EU posts, such as President of the EU Commission, President of the EU Council, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and President of the European Parliament.
The informal dinner of EU leaders on Monday will be the first opportunity for them to discuss future positions that require their agreements as well as a majority in the new European Parliament.
In France, the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen rose to 30 per cent of the vote, whereas French President Emmanuel Macron‘s Renaissance party fell to 15 per cent, down from 22 per cent in 2019. As a result, the president immediately dissolved the national parliament and called snap elections at the end of June.
In Germany, the national-oriented Alternative for Germany (AfD) came second with around 16.5% of the vote in Sunday’s EU elections. Meanwhile, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats performed their worst result ever.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party won more than a quarter of the vote. The election results were a big victory for parties calling for tough immigration policies, whereas left-wing parties favouring climate change and supporting Ukraine suffered heavy losses.
Israeli issue
The prime ministers of the two most anti-Israel EU member states, Spain and Belgium, also suffered heavy electoral defeats. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo resigned after parliamentary elections in his country.
Tomas Sandell, whose organisation earlier this year published an EU ranking on Israel, stated:
Instead of dismissing these far-right parties that made electoral victories, I think we should at least give them a chance and relate to them party by party, country by country, and not generalise.
For Israel, however, the most important question is who will succeed Josep Borrell as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Among other things, he accused Israel of deliberately fuelling the famine in the Gaza Strip, saying that Israel created Hamas. More recently, he made the controversial statement that Israel rejected the hostage deal while Hamas accepted it.
He also criticised Israel for continuing the military offensive in Rafah, warning that it could have repercussions for EU-Israel relations.
At Borrell’s initiative, EU foreign ministers agreed earlier this month to invite Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to discuss the country’s compliance with its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Since then, however, the Israeli minister has yet to respond to the invitation, a sign that Israel is suspicious of Borrell’s invitation and may be waiting to see who takes over.
“Anti-Israel” bias of Josep Borrell was condemned in a resolution passed recently by European Jewish leaders. They accused him of promoting continued anti-Semitism.
Who will replace Borrell
I think that the next High Representative would come from Central Eastern Europe. There are several reasons for that and one is related to the war in Ukraine. These are countries that understand what is at stake and are not hiding behind false perceptions appeasement.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski are potential candidates. Both would be acceptable to Israel. Kallas stated last November:
Hamas is waging a ruthless campaign of terror with zero regard for human life, including the lives of Palestinians. Israel is fully entitled to defend itself. But it must do so in a way that spares innocent lives and adheres to the norms of international law.
According to Professor Uri Rosenthal, a former Dutch Foreign Minister in the Rutte government, “Israel can be positive about the fact that in Europe very anti-Israel sentiments are not being reflected in the EU elections.”
Israel sees the rise of the European national-oriented movements as a result of growing opposition to immigration policy and the growing power of immigrants on the continent, especially Arabs.
A leading European rabbi, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of the European Jewish Association, recently warned that Europe faced an “exodus” of Jews due to a surge in anti-Semitism and the inaction of European leaders.
We are really very much concerned about the future because we do not have certainty that the new leadership are committed for sure to the future of Jews in Europe.
