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Brussels, my love? The EU’s disunited response to the Israel-Hamas war
In this edition of our talk show Brussels, my love?, we discuss if the EU should play a role in the war between Israel and Hamas and President Zelenskyy’s visit to Brussels.
Our panelists this week were Marc Botenga, a Belgian MEP with The Left and a substitute on the European Parliament delegation to Palestine, Antonio López-Istúriz White, a Spanish MEP with the European People’s Party and Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Israel, and Teresa Kuchler, Swedish journalist with Svenska Dagbladet.
This week, the eyes of the world were on the horrific attacks carried out by Hamas last week in Israel. To show solidarity, the EU institutions shone the Israeli flag on EU buildings and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola visited Israel on Friday.
Panelists gave their opinions on what role the European Union should play in the region and reacted to the messy response of the EU Commission to the events.
“Some of us we have been warning about this from the Foreign Affairs Committee, you know, that we have to change our foreign affairs approach in European politics. This cannot go on because this is the image of Europe. We need a coordinated effort and response to the crisis, not only this one, but many others to come”, said Antonio Lopez Isturiz.
“I think the EU today has a role to play, you know, to defend international law, to defend international humanitarian law, to protect civilians. You know, this is a role that the EU should play to be very clear about this,” said Marc Botenga.
“And the EU has in other conflicts played a diplomatic role, you know, to bring either a cease-fire negotiations whatsoever between the different partners, because the risk of this escalating into a full regional war is real concrete today,” he added.
“The EU doesn’t have a role to play in this crisis”, said Teresa Kuchler, describing the bloc as “a payer, not a player”.
Watch Brussels, my love? in the player above.
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3 bodies found in search for US and Australian surfers who mysteriously vanished in Mexico
Three bodies have been discovered in a popular Mexican tourist area where an American and two Australians suddenly vanished last week having been on an apparent camping and surfing trip, the local prosecutor’s office said in a statement late on Friday.
American Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, as well as Australian brothers Callum Robinson, 33, and Jake Robinson, 30, were last seen on April 27, the Baja California state prosecutor’s office previously announced. They did not show up at their planned accommodation last weekend.
Investigators discovered three bodies dumped in a pit while searching for the trio on Friday, although officials have not confirmed if the bodies are those of the missing men.
2 AMERICANS FOUND DEAD IN HOTEL ROOM IN MEXICO’S BAJA CALIFORNIA
Forensic tests on the remains will be conducted by a state laboratory, which will allow for positive identification of the bodies, the prosecutor’s office said in its statement.
Investigators continue to search the rugged area where the bodies were found for additional evidence, the statement added.
The bodies were found in a rugged hillside area in Baja California near the popular tourist town of Ensenada, about 90 minutes south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Video from the scene shows rescuers installing ropes to enter the pit where the bodies were discovered. The site is seen cordoned off by police while a navy boat was also visible in the sea nearby.
The site where the bodies were discovered near the township of Santo Tomás was near the remote seaside area where the missing men’s tents and the burned-out Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck were found Thursday on a remote stretch of coast.
It is unclear what types of injuries the victims suffered or how they died.
“There is a lot of important information that we can’t make public,” María Elena Andrade Ramírez, the chief state prosecutor said.
Baja California prosecutors said Friday that three people had been arrested and charged with a crime equivalent to kidnapping. It was unclear if they might face more charges.
Ensenada Mayor Carlos Ibarra Aguiar said in a news release that a 23-year-old woman had been detained with drugs and a cellphone that had a wallpaper photo of one of the missing men, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Officials didn’t specify how the three people were connected to the investigation, saying only that some were directly involved and others indirectly.
LUXURY RESORT SHUTTERS IN MEXICO’S BAJA CALIFORNIA AFTER MYSTERIOUS DEATHS OF 2 AMERICANS
Investigators said that a missing persons report was filed 48 hours after the men were last seen, although the prosecutor’s office began investigating as soon as posts began circulating on social media.
María Elena Andrade Ramírez, the chief state prosecutor, said that while drug cartels are active in the area, she said, “all lines of investigation are open at this time. We cannot rule anything out until we find them.”
The Baja California Attorney General’s Office has said that it has maintained contact with the FBI and relatives of the victims, through consular agencies.
On Wednesday, the missing Australians’ mother, Debra Robinson, posted on a local community Facebook page an appeal for help in finding her sons and noted that Callum is diabetic.
The Australian media reports that Jake is a doctor, while Callum lives in San Diego and is a member of Australia’s national lacrosse team.
The State Department’s travel advisory lists Baja California under its “reconsider travel” category due to crime and kidnapping.
In 2015, two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, were killed in western Sinaloa state, across the Gulf of California — also known as the Sea of Cortez— from the Baja peninsula. Authorities say they were victims of highway bandits.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
German social democrats promise not to join forces with the right
German social democrats spoke out against far right violence amid declining support after an attack on Friday night that hospitalised Saxony top candidate for the EU elections Matthias Ecke.
Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Europe held a democracy congress in Berlin as a show of force against the far right that is gaining traction across Europe.
SPD has been polling at a historical low following an economically rocky few years, but the party is now ramping up efforts to win back support after violent far-right attacks continue to increase.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged voters not to vote for far-right parties.
“Democracy is threatened by such things, and therefore, accepting them with a shrug of the shoulders is never an option. We must stand together against it,” he said.
Scholz also warned against further right wing attacks, and added, “that this is directed against local politicians and mayors in small towns and cities. Democracy is threatened by such things,” pointing to an attack on a 28-year-old campaigner for the Greens, that appears to be by the same group.
Ecke is currently in hospital awaiting surgery for his injuries.
Speeches, lead by European social democratic leader Stefan Loefven and the centre-left candidate to head the European Commission, Nicolas Schmit, saw politicians vow not to collaborate with far-right parties if coalitions needed to be built.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party condemned the attack on Ecke.
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