The Foreign Affairs Council is convening today at a harrowing time, with the crises in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sub-Saharan Africa.
These crises share two major features: they continually exacerbate their humanitarian aspect, while also incessantly creating conditions of risk for their further spread to other fields and countries worldwide.
Europe is at a critical crossroads. It has already done a lot. It will either choose to be at the forefront of developments with a more active presence, or it will remain so.
It is precisely in the context of the ongoing peace efforts that I will be travelling to the Gulf countries, Qatar and Kuwait, immediately following the Council, in an attempt to jointly develop a framework for peace in the much-affected region of the Middle East and to put an end to the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding.
April 22, 2024