Spain criticizes EU's 'double standards' on Gaza, Ukraine

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, in a speech during his participation in the European Council's Foreign Relations Conference in Madrid yesterday, Thursday, criticized the "double standards" followed by the European Union regarding the situations in Ukraine and Gaza.

The Spanish foreign minister expressed his "regret that the European Union was able to speak with one voice on the Russian attack on Ukraine, and Hamas's surprise attack on Israel on October 7, but not on Israel's clear violations of international legal agreements" in Gaza.

He warned that "the double standards of the European Union on Gaza and Ukraine are becoming more and more apparent." The Spanish foreign minister urged the European Union to "do more on the attacks on Gaza." He added: "It is a matter of respecting international law, and if the European Union does not speak in unity on this, I do not know who in the world will."

The Spanish minister said that his country "is trying to push for more unity in the bloc, including taking measures against Israel to pressure it to comply with the law."

He added that Spain had joined the "genocide" case brought by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice "because of clear Israeli violations of the agreements, such as the systematic destruction of basic service infrastructure and the placing of obstacles to the entry of aid."

On June 28, Spain filed an official request to join the “genocide” case before the International Court of Justice.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement at the time that it aimed through this step to "contribute to the return of peace to Gaza and the Middle East, end the war and strengthen the two-state solution, which constitutes the only guarantee for peaceful and secure coexistence for Palestinians and Israelis."

In late December 2023, South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice on the grounds that it had violated the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide. Several countries subsequently applied to join the case, including Palestine, Turkey, Libya, Nicaragua, Colombia and Mexico.

The Israeli war on Gaza, which has been carried out with full American support since October 7, has left more than 125,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amidst massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children.