European Council President Charles Michel Elaborates EU’s Policy Towards Ukraine and Israel-Palestinian Conflict

At the press conference held at the end of the 19th EU-Canada summit in St John's, Canada, on Nov. 24, European Council President Charles Michel highlighted the main topics discussed with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

According to his press service, Michels said:

“We are liberal democracies, and we believe in peace and security; we believe in stability. And that's why it's not a surprise that we are on exactly the same page. We support Ukraine and will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. On the EU side, we have already delivered €83 billion in support for Ukraine in various fields – financial, military – and we are ready to do more. In the weeks to come we will make additional decisions and I am optimistic, along with our member states, in this regard. We want to sanction Russia, but it will also be an opportunity to discuss the importance of preventing the circumvention of sanctions on the one hand, and on the other to identify the sectors in which some additional steps may be needed in the future in coordination with our like-minded partners.”

The European Council President also addressed the Israeli-Hammas war and called for consistency in adhering to international standards.

“It is also very important to be a positive actor, together, in addressing the situation in the Middle East, Michel said. “That is why I reiterate that we condemn the terrible Hamas attack launched on the Israeli people. We support Israel's right to defend itself, to defend its people, but it must be done in line with international law. We don't want double standards. That means that we need to address the humanitarian situation. It is good that the first pause has been decided, but it's very important that the humanitarian consequences are addressed. We support the two-state solution and we hope that as soon as possible there will be an opportunity to discuss the concrete elements that are needed to make the two-state solution a possibility in order to guarantee a sustainable peace in that region.”

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See the full press release here.