Image: APA
At the same time, he considers ceasefires to be acceptable in order to “alleviate the suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip,” he told the “Presse.” At the same time, Schallenberg recalled the approximately 240 Israeli hostages who are still being held by Hamas. “Sometimes I have the impression that the more than 200 hostages have already been forgotten. The first goal is their unconditional release.”
He also defended Israel against accusations that the country was violating international law or deliberately attacking civilians: “This is not a state that is blindly lashing out and taking revenge, but one that is trying very specifically and strategically to destroy a terrorist organization. who deliberately abuse hospitals and schools for their own purposes.”
“Inhumane cynicism”
The Foreign Minister also countered the allegations of the Palestinian representative in Austria, Salah Abdel Shafi, who had accused the federal government of a lack of empathy for Palestinian civilians, and referred to Austria’s financial aid. “We want to help the people in Gaza, but not strengthen Hamas. Hamas is sitting on a million liters of diesel, which unfortunately never ends up in generators for hospitals and water supplies. Hamas wants to cause a humanitarian crisis. Their inhumane cynicism is not to surpass.”
Schallenberg was openly critical of the statement by UN Secretary General António Guterres, who said that the bloody Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th did not take place in a vacuum. “I found this statement surprising, to put it diplomatically.” The Foreign Minister emphasized: “If someone kills a person, then it is murder. You can of course point to the difficult youth of a murderer. But that is not a justification for murder.”
EU membership for Ukraine?
Schallenberg also commented on the EU Commission’s recommendation to start accession talks with Ukraine. He described himself as “a little unhappy about the way things are going now.” He complained that he had “the feeling that the Balkans are being looked at with a magnifying glass and the Ukraine with rose-colored glasses.” “There will certainly be intensive discussions at the European level.” The Foreign Minister advocated a more gradual path towards full EU membership: “We have to move away from the binary thinking, according to which there is only full membership or non-membership and nothing in between.” He emphasized: “I want Ukraine on board in the EU, but it doesn’t have to be a classic full membership straight away.”
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Source: Nachrichten
