Portugal’s minister of foreign affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, who on Monday chaired a meeting of ministers from European Union member states, called on “all parties” in Jerusalem to refrain from “sponsoring” acts of violence in the city, arguing that “violence is not a solution for anything”, after days of tensions between Palestinians and Israelis there.
“The European Union will continue to support the Israeli government’s efforts to find a solution to the conflict in Jerusalem, and will continue to support the Israeli government’s efforts to find a solution to the conflict in the Middle East,” said the minister, who was chairing a Foreign Affairs Council for Portugal, which currently holds the presidency of the EU Council.
At the meeting of EU foreign ministers, which was discussing various topics – including the situation in the Sahel, Afghanistan and Russia – Santos Silva sought to “highlight what is happening in Jerusalem” and make an “appeal to all the parties involved to avoid violence, to condemn violence.”
Besides the incidents in Jerusalem, Monday’s had “a very full agenda”, said Santos Silva, highlighting the meeting that they were to have with US President Joe Biden’s special envoy for the climate, John Kerry, who was to take part via videoconference.
“Europe and the United States have very close positions in multilateral domains and must join – and have been joining – efforts to give full priority to climate action on the multilateral agenda,” Santos Silva said. “It is a question of the survival of the planet and therefore of humanity itself.”
On the Western Balkans, which was the second major item on the ministers’ agenda, Santos Silva stressed that the region is “essential for the stability and security of the European Union itself.”
In Jerusalem, at least 50 Palestinians were hospitalised on Monday after clashes with Israeli police, according to local medical sources. Earlier, hundreds of Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque – Islam’s third holiest site, on what the Jews call Temple Mount – had thrown stones and other objects at police, who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades.
