from HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works to world@lemmy.world on 29 Dec 2025 14:06
https://sh.itjust.works/post/52450614
“We Europeans may have different languages and histories, but there is no European language in which ‘peace’ is synonymous with ‘capitulation,’ and ‘sovereignty’ with ‘occupation.’” On October 9, 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen challenged Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban before the European Parliament.
Yet her words targeted only Budapest’s support for a “peace” in Ukraine that would amount to “capitulation” before Russia, and a Russian “sovereignty” over occupied territories that was nothing but “occupation” of Ukraine. The Commission president seemed unaware that such statements could just as easily apply to Orban’s unconditional support for Israel’s war of destruction in Gaza, which by then had already killed over 42,000 Palestinians, with the invaders occupying 80% of the enclave.
Indeed, on October 13, 2023, von der Leyen traveled to Israel to offer the European Union’s (EU) support for the Israeli reprisals against the Gaza Strip, just six days after Hamas attacks left at least 1,200 dead. She had no mandate to take such a decisive stance, but her pro-Israel convictions overrode all other considerations, thus trapping the EU in an impasse.
The EU’s “double standard” between Ukraine and Gaza has weakened it in the face of Russia, without granting it any real influence in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu did everything possible to prolong the Gaza war until Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The Israeli prime minister thus once again found himself aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also pinned his hopes on Trump’s re-election.
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