EU expected to play bigger role in peace talks

With the Geneva talks on the Iran nuclear program on Friday yielding little fruit, the European Union has been urged to play a more independent role in peace negotiations, even as the situation in the Middle East worsened following the bombing of nuclear sites by the US in Iran.

"The discussions and proposals made by the Europeans in Geneva were unrealistic. Insisting on these positions will not bring Iran and Europe closer to an agreement," Reuters quoted an Iranian senior official as saying on condition of anonymity, while no openly reached deal was reported yet.

For Di Dongsheng, dean of the School of Global and Area Studies at the Renmin University of China, the continued Israel-Iran conflict has put Europe in an awkward position. "Relying heavily on oil supplies from the Middle East, Europe now faces a high risk of energy shortage in case the situation worsens and the Strait of Hormuz gets closed," he told China Daily. "Besides, what Israel has been committing in Gaza, recognized by many as massacre, has aroused quite fierce opposition from the European people and certain political parties."

Yet politically, the major European powers are backing Israel, while the right-wing politicians in quite a number of European nations treat it almost as an ally, just the way the US does, Di said, citing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's statement, in which he thanked Israel for "doing the dirty job for us all" in Iran. That might further split Europe, which is already divided on multiple issues, he said.

Jian Junbo, director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, said that Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy had once become the consensus among major world powers.

Risk of chaos

However, Israel has ignited the powder keg in the Middle East again with a sudden attack on Iran on June 13, claiming the latter was "funding and directing terrorist activities via its proxies across the Middle East, while advancing toward obtaining a nuclear weapon", according to an Israel Defense Forces statement. The region faces the risk of chaos, observers noted, as the United States on Saturday launched attacks on three nuclear facilities in Iran.

"If the Middle East situation gets out of control, powers such as the Houthi group and the Kurdish forces might rise there, turning it into bigger chaos," he said. "In this case, Europe's interests will be more fragile."

"Europe is not capable of acting independently today … This is a big problem for Europe now, for as long as Europe fails to adopt an independent policy of its own, the more insignificant Europe will become on the world stage," said Mick Wallace, a former member of the European Parliament.

He also said: "Europe should now condemn this illegal US act of aggression against Iran, and EU member states should break off all business links with Israel while they continue to behave as a lawless apartheid state."

"I am convinced that a path exists to end war and avoid even greater dangers," French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X. "To achieve this, we will accelerate the negotiations led by France and its European partners with Iran."

EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation on Monday, Kaja Kallas, foreign affairs chief of the EU, posted on X.