EU, Arab leaders meet in Cyprus on Iran, Lebanon, energy crisis

[0:00] you to nicosia in cyprus where the eu uh foreign policy chief is speaking uh after a meeting with [0:09] arab leaders and the european union discussing the iran conflict and attacking and tackling [0:15] also the rising energy prices this is the eu commission president orsula von der leyen [0:21] without tolls it is equally clear that any peace agreement will have to address iran's [0:29] nuclear and ballistic missile program the events of the last seven weeks have shown [0:35] the real danger that a nuclear iran would pose to the world my message today to our partners were [0:44] two first i wanted to reaffirm our absolute solidarity with our partners in the region [0:52] a key lesson of the past weeks is that security is indivisible you cannot have stability in the [1:00] middle east or the gulf while lebanon is in flames so we call for the respect of lebanon's [1:07] sovereignty and territorial integrity a temporary pause is not enough we need a permanent path to [1:16] peace and on the way we will continue to support the lebanese people six eu humanitarian air bridge [1:23] flights have delivered over 250 tons of aid as part of the 100 million euro in humanitarian assistance [1:33] this solidarity among partners is mutual i want to praise the leadership of egypt and jordan [1:43] both are leaving no stone unturned to find diplomatic solutions to conflicts that affect us all and i want [1:52] to thank the gulf states for their support for example to bringing eu citizens home safely europe [1:58] will remember this my second message is that in times of crisis bonds grow strong stronger because [2:08] we are not just partners in managing crisis we are partners for the future and this is why we held [2:16] recently our first ever summits with jordan and egypt and are reinforcing our strategic and comprehensive [2:24] partnerships we have big investment packages underpinning them and i look forward to our first eu [2:32] jordan investment conference later this year indeed when president costa and i were in damascus in [2:40] january this year we announced a new political partnership with your president al-shara with [2:45] syria earlier this week we have proposed resuming the eu syria cooperation agreement and in two weeks we [2:54] will host the first high level political dialogue between syria and the european union paving the way [3:03] for a possible future association agreement we will keep supporting the revival of syria's economy [3:11] and the reconciliation of its society turning to the gulf countries last week the secretary general of the [3:20] gcc and i agreed that our partnership needs to become a broader geopolitical partnership the eu gcc summit [3:30] later this year i think gives us the opportunity to do exactly this we are also ready to team up with [3:37] the gulf countries to diversify export infrastructure away from the solely from solely the bottleneck of the [3:46] hormuz straight and now is the time to advance promising connectivity projects like imec the india [3:54] middle east europe economic corridor finally the events of the past month have taught us a hard truth [4:04] our security is not just related it is intrinsically linked a threat to a merchant vessel in the strait of [4:13] hormuz is a threat to a factory for example in belgium so today i propose that we move beyond reactive crisis [4:23] management first we could consider expanding the scope of missions like operational speeders evolving [4:31] from mere protection to a sophisticated joint maritime coordination second the threat of mass [4:40] proliferation of drones and missiles is sadly a shared reality we should set up a structural cooperation [4:48] of scaling up defense production so together let us build a region where peace is not merely [4:56] the absence of war but the presence of a secure and prosperous future for all our citizens thank you [5:03] very much president of the libanese republic mr joseph on you now have the floor i would like to address [5:29] my thanks also for the role played by cyprus in fostering dialogue between the eu member states and the [5:35] region i would like also to my express my sincere gratitude to all the leaders for supporting lebanon [5:42] and standing by its side this meeting it was an important encounter it was an opportunity to meet [5:51] the important challenges confronting us in light of the dramatic unfolding events in the region and that [5:58] was a sign also to foster stability in order to make it sustainable in the region with all the impact it [6:06] might have on the energy security as well as navigation security in the straits on our side we have expressed [6:17] during the meeting the reality of lebanon the situation where by which lebanon is confronted with a war [6:26] that came at a time where lebanon had not even recovered from the past wars and problems and this has [6:34] strongly affected impacted the socioeconomic situation lebanon is paying a high humanitarian price [6:43] nowadays with a very high flow of displacement and refugees and all the pressure on the infrastructures [6:50] in in addition also to the vital sectors in the economic sector nevertheless and in parallel we said [7:01] that lebanon is not considering these matters from the angle of conflict but rather from the window of [7:07] opportunities and we need to move in that direction the region has high potentials in order to have [7:14] economic integration as well as interlink with services and trade these are potentials that cannot be [7:24] guaranteed in uh instability period this is why we uh confirmed that the stability quality of the region [7:33] what happens in lebanon is not exclusive to its borders but it impacts also the region and its partners [7:41] moreover we confirmed the importance of moving from crisis management to recovery through the consolidation [7:50] of our partnership and cooperation with our european partners not just only from the security level but [7:57] also investments and in order to guarantee connectivity on the economic level between the and lebanon is not [8:06] excluded from this uh uh the cycle it is not only a country that is being faced with challenges but as a [8:14] partner also instability in the region we look very much forward to fostering this dialogue and to [8:22] consolidating cooperation in the future in service of our mutual interests and those of our populations [8:30] thank you in the name of god the merciful the compassionate i would like to extend my sincerest [8:44] gratitude to our partners in the eu for hosting us and for inviting us our meeting today is a moment of [8:52] political maturity that is consecrating a new geopolitical situation with the framework of cooperation we [9:00] consider that this is a reality that the stability and security of our region and europe constitute geopolitical [9:10] stability and equilibrium and this is why it involves a lot of work together in that direction [9:17] we have those responsibilities in light of all the challenges facing all the peoples of the region and that [9:25] are impacting the international trade with the closing of the hermos strait which is considered to be a very [9:32] big risk danger also for the in history and that requests a strategic action with this we know that europe [9:41] needs syria as much as syria needs europe it is very important it is inevitable because in order to guarantee [9:50] security security also and the supply chains in the world nonetheless i would like to invite the international [9:56] community to assume its responsibility vis-a-vis all the israeli aggressions of all types and land [10:04] that are striking in our lands and territories and to go back to the resolution of 1974 and this is why it is [10:15] very important that the essence of recovery has to has its own impact also on regional stability for the [10:26] partnership with europe this is why the commitment by europe with the stability and security of syria [10:32] will lead to inevitably stop the aggressions of israel on the syrian territories and to stop being [10:39] violating all the sovereignty of syria on our side we would like to confirm that syria that used to be [10:45] a room for a struggle is rather working for its people and it wants its people to be a bridge also [10:52] and the main pillar for the solution geography unites us and partnership for consecrates this this is why [11:01] we confirm our commitment also to the initiative of the four seas and this actually focuses on the [11:09] importance of bridging syria with asia and the gulf and europe what has been achieved today is a [11:15] good start to pave the way for the 11th of the next month whereby which we are going to inaugurate [11:22] the very high vip political dialogue with dialogue with europe and we are heading towards this date in [11:31] order to consecrate the strategic role of syria that wishes to integrate also the european space and to [11:38] foster cooperation and partnership with our friends thank you your excellencies thank you very much we [11:48] conclude now the part of the statements thank you you and arab leaders holding a news conference there [11:54] in cyprus after discussing the iran conflict and rising energy prices we heard from the eu commission [12:02] president orsula von der leyen as well as from the lebanese president joseph faun and lastly from the [12:08] syrian president ahmed al-shara let's bring in rory challenge who's in nicosia for us uh rory what is [12:14] the message from the leaders gathered there well i think one of the questions that's been hanging over [12:23] this conference is does europe still have relevance in the middle east as the region goes through a huge [12:30] upheaval huge turmoil uh the war started by the united states and israel what role can the eu play [12:37] in trying to diffuse tensions and bring things back uh to some degree of normality this is at a moment [12:45] where many people are questioning uh whether the eu still has a voice still has power uh in the middle [12:51] east and i think the the visitors who've come here the people who that we've just been hearing from in [12:58] that press conference there they are part of that answer they are part of europe's attempts to [13:06] maintain its diplomatic voice and its diplomatic agency so yes we heard from ursula von der leyen [13:12] they're talking about how uh the straits of hormuz are vital that's what happens there has an impact [13:19] in factories in belgium uh for example uh and that's working together with countries like egypt like [13:27] lebanland like syria uh the gcc countries europe uh has to take on its responsibilities in in making [13:34] sure things get back to normal each of these countries has its own challenges of course and so [13:40] joseph aoun the lebanese president he was talking about what happens in lebanon is not just confined to [13:48] lebanese borders it spills out it has uh it has ripples and uh ahmed al-shara the syrian uh president he [13:56] was saying that you know israel is uh striking repeatedly inside syria that europe has to meet [14:03] its uh responsibilities in essentially calling that out but i think what all of these people [14:09] speaking together uh showed was that this crisis that is happening at the moment uh in the in the [14:17] gulf region and uh in iran it affects everyone and everyone needs to come together to try and find a way [14:24] through it yeah on iran rory we heard from uh the german chancellor earlier uh who said that [14:31] the european union was willing to gradually lift some of the sanctions on iran if a comprehensive [14:38] agreement is rich rich with the us and israel how significant would that be well that would be hugely [14:48] significant that you know that would be a re-entry of iran into the international system the system that [14:55] it has effectively been excluded from for for years that was always part of the jcpoa as well the uh the [15:04] nuclear agreement reached in 2015 that effectively uh traded a reintegration of iran for iran uh putting [15:16] on hold or on pause its nuclear ambitions that was the treaty that donald trump walked away from [15:22] in 2018 and you can plot a fairly straight line from that moment to where we are today of course [15:30] the europeans and the americans they were in accord back then in 2015 when the jcpoa was being [15:37] drafted they're not in accord anymore and we heard from earlier from pete hegseth uh the u.s uh [15:43] secretary of defense he calls himself the secretary of war basically criticizing this kind of event [15:48] the kind of event that i'm at at the moment as as city talks he said that europe should basically be [15:53] putting warships into the strait of hormuz that it's uh in europe's uh vital interests to get those uh [16:00] waterways free and moving again of course it is he's not wrong in that and the europeans do [16:07] have warships uh that they have in the region of course the europeans take it in a different way they [16:13] think that the best way of diffusing the tensions the best way of getting uh the global energy energy [16:19] supplies moving again is after the fighting has stopped then they are proposing that these two uh [16:27] naval missions that they have operation at the moment as speedies and atalanta that have been going on for [16:33] two years now that those can be beefed up but there is still clear water between the american view of [16:40] what europe should be doing and what europe is capable and willing to do at the moment rory thank [16:45] you very much for that that's al jazeera's rory challenge reporting there from nicosia in cyprus