European diplomats were forced to make excuses and apologize for the words of the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, about the existence of a basic consensus among EU leaders on a humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip. This was reported by the Politico newspaper, citing three anonymous diplomats.
It is clarified that last month Borrell said that there was a basic consensus among ministers on the need for a humanitarian pause in Gaza, however, in order to reach agreement on the wording it took three days to conduct high-level negotiations. As a result, the Secretary General of the EU External Action Service Stefano Sannino was forced to apologize to representatives of the organization due to the fact that the European diplomat prematurely announced the existence of a consensus.
«One of the … EU diplomats described Sannino's intervention as » way to apologize» for Borrell's remarks, while the other two diplomats took it more as an explanation than as a full apology,» the publication says.
The author of the publication writes that the head of European diplomacy has very angered some diplomats the European Union with its statements that contradict the official position of the EU on the issue of the conflict in the Middle East.