N. Peter Kramer’s Weekly Column
EU leaders knew this may coming. For weeks, they watched the US military build-up in the Middle East. But since the US-Israeli attack started on Iran, the EU looked fractured and decidedly without leverage, caught up in the maelstrom of what happens. They are understandably angsting about its citizens in the region and worrying too about the impact the Middle East crisis has on consumers back home. Gas prices, for instance, have soared to an extent not seen since the launch of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022
Politically, the EU is struggling to find a united voice on the fast-paced developments in the Middle East. The statements of Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, and Kaja Kallas, the Vice-President and Head of EEAS (EU’s foreign affairs), were diametrically opposed. A statement by memberstates’ foreign ministers stopped short of advocating regime change in Iran. Spain’s prime-minister Pedro Sanchez, a rabid anti-Israel socialist, prohibit the US air force to uses Spanish bases; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signalled that Berlin may be adjust to a great-power order shaped by Washington rather than rules.
Europe’s Big Three, France, Germany and the UK, did manage to issue a joint statement, warning Iran they were ready to take ‘defensive action’ to destroy its ability to fire missiles and drones unless Tehran stopped its ‘indiscriminate attacks’. The UK agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for strikes on Iranian missile sites. All three countries stopped short of questioning the legality under international law of the US-Israeli strikes.
The declared ambition of European nations, in and outside the EU including the UK, in the new turbulent world of Big Power politics, is to work together, foremost in the arena of security and defence. But, the question is, are they capable of doing so?
