EU chief: UN system paralysed by vetoes

The United Nations System has been paralysed by use of vetoes which maintain conflicts instead of solving them, warned the top European Union (EU) diplomat Wednesday. "Look at what is happening at the (UN) Security Council; there are no agreements, there are only vetoes," EU High Representative Josep Borrell told Schuman Forum for Security and Defence in Brussels. "I can say that the EU Member States have not used the veto right in these last times. But the United NationsÂ' system is paralysed by vetoes, and these vetoes maintain conflicts. And these conflicts can kill people and spread insecurity and put ethical questions to all of us," he stated. Borrell compared the war in Ukraine with Gaza saying "for us, certainly, the war in Ukraine is the most important existential threat, and the war in Gaza is the biggest ethical question for us." He noted that in the Middle East, "we are perceiving another severe test for the international rules-based order. The international rules-based order is based on institu tions, for example the International Court of Justice (ICJ)." The recent order of the International Court of Justice on the Israeli-occupation regime to stop its military attacks in Rafah is binding, he said. "All members of the European Union have to abide by these rules. If this is not the case, then the international rules-based order is much weaker than we could imagine," said Borrell. Turning to the Gulf region, he said that earlier this month the EU held its first security dialogue with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. "A security dialogue of the Gulf. Very timely, it was launched earlier this year," he added. Schuman Forum for Security and Defence is hosted by the European Parliament in Brussels with the participation of many ministers from the 27 Member States and more than 50 ministers and ambassadors from outside the European Union. Source: Kuwait News Agency