by Ariel Kahana
Mogherini isn't sitting idly by.
Dozens
of foreign ministers and other leaders from all over the world were
making their way to Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday evening to take part in
a summit organized by the energetic U.S. Secretary of State, Mike
Pompeo.
The summit is officially dedicated to
promoting peace and stability in the Middle East. In actuality, it has
been convened to put together an anti-Iran bloc in the Middle East and
its environs. The direct result will be a picture of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu standing alongside several Arab foreign ministers.
The indirect result will mean that the EU is now weaker.
In a classic divide-and-conquer move,
Pompeo is holding the summit in Warsaw. Poland is the biggest of the
European nations that are battling the decrees from Brussels. As such,
Poland is – or at least wants to be – a counter-balance to well-known
Western powers, including the two main actors in the EU these days,
Germany and France. Pompeo is intentionally backing Poland, the rebel.
It's no coincidence, therefore, that the
German and French foreign ministers are skipping the summit. As is EU
Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, the architect of Europe's plan
to skirt American sanctions on Iran. Pompeo is putting Mogherini at a
disadvantage mainly because of that plan. However, the foreign secretary
of Britain – which will soon be leaving the EU – is attending. He knows
that a small spat with Brussels is preferable to a major fall-out with
Washington.
Mogherini isn't sitting idly by. Two weeks
from now, she plans to convene an international summit in Sharm
e-Sheikh, Egypt that is designed to present a European show of force in
the Middle East. Unlike the Warsaw summit, Israel will not be
participating.
But it's clear even to Mogherini that the
EU is in trouble. Britain is about to leave. Italy and France are close
to cutting off ties with one another. The migrant crisis continues to
engulf the continent, and all eyes are on the May elections, which are
expected to bolster extremist forces on both the Left and the Right and
shake up the EU, which isn't very unified anymore.
Ariel Kahana
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/a-summit-to-weaken-iran-and-the-eu/
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