EU foreign ministers are meeting on Monday to debate the escalating conflict in the Middle East and the European Union’s efforts to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion, despite Hungarian resistance.
The EU plans to hit Russian actors and organizations accused of destabilizing Moldova’s democracy and security with new sanctions ahead of a crunch referendum on EU membership later this month.
The bloc also wants to punish Iran for supplying Russia with ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine.
The EU sanctions to be adopted on Monday target companies and individuals involved in Iran’s ballistic missile programme and the delivery of these and other weapons to Russia.
One of the targets is Iranian state airline Iran Air. Germany and France have already announced they are working on sanctions targeting the company.
Iran has condemned the proposed EU measures. “I clearly said, and reiterate once again: we’ve NOT provided ballistic missiles to Russia,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X on Sunday. “If Europe needs a case to appease Israel’s blackmail, better find another story.”
The role of Iran and its regional proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza will be in focus at the foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg.
The EU is struggling to find a response that could help stop the conflict from spiralling into a full-scale regional war in the Middle East.
EU foreign ministers will gather during a transitional phase for the bloc. It is likely to be top EU diplomat Josep Borrell’s last meeting, as former Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas prepares to assume the role.
Another major issue is Hungary’s year-and-a-half-long blockade of a key EU military aid policy for Ukraine, the European Peace Facility (EPF), worth €6.6 billion ($7.2 billion).
Budapest does not want to send arms to Ukraine, believing that doing so only prolongs the war.
“Frankly speaking, it’s a lot of time, it’s a lot of money, and it’s undermining our political will of supporting Ukraine on any front,” an EU official said in a sign of growing EU impatience with Hungary.
The bloc’s diplomatic arm, the European External Action Service, has devised a plan to make contributions to the EPF fund voluntary, instead of mandatory, as a technical workaround to Hungary’s opposition.
An EU diplomat said that Hungary has shown a willingness to agree to this solution.
British Foreign Minister David Lammy will also meet with his EU counterparts, the first time a British foreign minister has attended a meeting of EU foreign ministers alone since Britain left the EU in 2020.
New Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is to speak with EU foreign ministers via video link.
