Germany's Scholz repeats support for Israel at EU congress

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday emphasized the importance of Israel as a safe space for the Jewish people worldwide.

"And it is important, worldwide, to know that this place exists," he said on the sidelines of a two-day congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in the Spanish city of Malaga.

"That is why our solidarity with Israel must be clear. The terrible, barbaric attack by Hamas on Israeli citizens, on children, on the elderly, on young people taking part in a festival, the humiliations that were filmed there, that is something we will never accept," the German chancellor said.

He also called for pauses in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip to allow humanitarian aid, but defended Israel's right to take action against the militant group.

The Malaga Congress, which was hosted by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, also a member of the PES, said on its website that its mission for the year was "to engage with Europeans — especially young people — and talk about how to strengthen democracy and ensure the future is based on progressive values."

Borrell criticizes Israel's actions

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has once again sharply criticized Israel's actions in Gaza.

It was "not acceptable" to cut off the supply of water, food, electricity and fuel to the entire population of Gaza, he said in a video message that was broadcast at the Malaga congress.

It's clear "that we must support Israel in view of the terrorist attacks it has suffered," Borrell said. He added, however, that the country must "respect international humanitarian law and try to minimize the number of civilian casualties."

It's in Israel's own self-interest, Borrell said, as "a strategy that ignores the human losses will not work in the end. And peace is the best and perhaps the only guarantee of security for Israel."

Ukraine war also high on the agenda

Russia's war against Ukraine as well as the issue of migration have also been high on the agenda of the Socialist politicians gathered in Malaga.

Scholz emphasized the need to continue supporting Ukraine in its defense against the Russian war of aggression.

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin had broken the decadeslong agreement that national borders would not be altered by force.

This is why "Putin cannot win," Scholz said.

To achieve this, the German chancellor argued, not only must Ukraine be helped, but EU defense capabilities have to be strengthened and relations with the emerging nations worldwide and the countries of the so-called Global South also have to be improved.

What did Scholz say about Italy's migration deal with Albania?

On Saturday, Scholz also signaled an openness to study Italy's deal to hold migrants in Albania as the European Union struggles to curb illegal immigration.

Rome this week agreed with Albania on the building of two reception and detention camps for illegal migrants arriving on boats.

"Bear in mind that Albania will quite soon, in our view, be a member of the EU, implying that we are talking about the question of how can we jointly solve challenges and problems within the European family," he said.

"Such deals, that have been eyed there, are possible and we will all look at that very closely," he said.

Scholz said a clear EU course on migration policy was needed.

He called for an overhaul of the bloc's asylum and migration rules to be completed during the current term of the European Parliament.

sri/ab (dpa, Reuters)