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Dear Minister, dear friend, it is a great pleasure to be here, in Amman, once again, on my last visit in my capacity as High Representative [Vice-President] for the European Union.  

The frequency of our interactions during the last years reflects, my dear friend, not only the amount of the issues that we have had to handle together, but also the intensity and the quality of our relations.  

The quality of the relations between the European Union and Jordan. Jordan is an indispensable partner for the European Union. Jordan is an anchor of stability and wisdom in the eye of the storm. 

I want to pay tribute to His Majesty King Abdullah, with whom I had the honour to have, yesterday, an inspiring exchange, about the current situation in the region. I want to thank His Majesty for the great honour he gave to me with this Grand Cordon Al-Kawkab Al-Urduni decoration. It will be a high [point] in my heart, this moment.  

Also yesterday, I had the honour to be received as a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the International Relations School of the University of Jordan. As I said at the University, Jordan has been defending principles, its sovereignty, its territorial integrity, its role as custodian of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem – never sacrificing the principles. Never sacrificing these principles in the interaction with the rest of the world. Always at the side of the Palestinian people.  

Let me pay tribute also to you personally, my dear [Deputy Prime] Minister [and Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister Ayman Safadi]. You have been steadfast in promoting peace in all international fora, always sincere, eloquent in our meetings, as a good friend, as a strong partner can be.  

Indeed, the volume of cooperation between the European Union and Jordan has been increasing. I do not want to go into figures, citing numbers. I prefer to stay with the big principle of our will to increase, our Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership Agreement. Today, our teams are working in order to make it possible by the end of the year. 

This partnership will be part of a strong engagement of the European Union with the Mediterranean: you and me, we have been co-chairing the Union for the Mediterranean meetings in Barcelona; a new Strategy for the Middle East is in preparation; and European Union is committed to support Jordan and the region as much as needed.  

[With] our partnership, we allow us to further advance in cooperation in the key areas of security and defence, trade, investment, energy, digital and human development.  

In my meetings, I also reiterated the EU’s commitment to continue supporting the implementation of the Jordan triple modernisation process: the political, economic, and public administration reforms in which you are engaged. 

I want to commend the successful conduct of the September parliamentary elections. We deployed an Election Observation Mission. These Missions, as you know, my dear Minister, are one of the most important tools that we have in our Foreign Policy. This Mission concluded that elections were fair and transparent. I want to congratulate you for that.  

Jordan has our full support when it comes to the implementation of the two other modernisation tracks: economy and public administration. We will adopt soon a Macro-Financial Assistance, a package of €500 million in order to support you in this transformation.  

Moreover, to assist Jordan tackling its multiple security challenges, we are already providing military support to the Jordanian Armed Forces under the European Peace Facility – I am honoured to be able to do that.  I will continue pushing for the European Union supporting you. 

Now allow me to go to a wider approach to the region’s problems.  No doubt that Jordan deserves all our support – including in your efforts to advance in a just peace and stability in the region. 

On Gaza – let me first express my utter dismay over the unbearable human cost and large-scale destruction caused by this conflict. There are no more words to describe what is going on. 

As I said many times: one horror cannot justify another horror. The tragedy for the civilian population in Gaza is unacceptable. This man-made tragedy is not an earthquake, it is not a volcano, it is not a flood. It is a man-made tragedy.  

This morning, I met with Muhannad Hadi, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator. I would like, if you allow me, to echo the images that we shared this morning in this meeting.  

Next Monday, humanitarian operations in Gaza are expected to stop. To stop because there is no more food and there is no more fuel. Hospitals have been turned into battlefields. Homes, schools, shelters, boys and girls, everyone has been coming under attack. The figures of number of children being killed are terrifying. In Gaza, everywhere is a frontline, no one is safe, and nowhere is safe.  

Families in Gaza are facing an impossible choice: to flee from violence – but to flee where if there is no safe place? – or to stay and starve.  

Parts of Northern Gaza are at imminent risk of famine. And in Central and Southern parts of the Gaza Strip, very few humanitarian actors are still working, and they report severe hunger. 

Looting – fuelled by the breakdown of public order and safety in Gaza – has become something increasingly organised. This is endangering workers, aid workers, making it almost impossible for humanitarian organisations to do their jobs. 

Since early November, the Israeli authorities have facilitated just 40% of the planned humanitarian movements across the Gaza Strip. The rest were either denied, impeded, or cancelled due to security and logistical challenges.

The people of Gaza cannot wait any longer for sustained humanitarian access and support. I repeat, next Monday, unless something changes, supply will no longer go into Gaza. No food, no fuel. 

Like Jordan, I condemned the Knesset bills terminating the United Nations Agency’s UNRWA activities in Israel and East Jerusalem, seriously hampering the operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and endangering the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) operations across the region.  

In September, we launched a Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. I will continue working on that. But now, the urgency – the extreme urgency – is to try to help people in need in Gaza.  

In Gaza there is an apocalyptic situation. Someone said that the people in Gaza were reduced to behave as animals. That is what is happening. They made them to behave as animals – but they are human beings.  

The world cannot turn their view on what is happening there, my dear friend. At the European Union, I will do my best in order to make everybody aware of what is happening there. There is no more society in Gaza. There are only individuals fighting for their survival. To survive one day more before being killed by the bombs. 

I said it yesterday and I want to repeat [it]: this is a war against children. The most frequent age of the casualties in Gaza is young children between five years and nine years old. 

The world cannot afford this situation. In the name of Humanity, in the name of [those who] believe that every human being deserves dignity, this massacre has to stop. That is what I wanted to say during my visit to Jordan. International community has to act in order to stop this tragedy. 

Thank you!   

Q&A. 

Q. [Inaudible… on the ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Galant] How do you look at this in Jordan? The same question also is addressed to Mister Borrell, how do you view this International Criminal Court (ICC) resolution? Do you believe that the European Union and the international community can implement this decision or resolution or not? 

Thank you. As I said before, the tragedy in Gaza has to stop. Now, I will be very sober in my comment. It is not a political decision. It is a decision of a Court, of a Court of Justice, of the International Criminal Court. The decisions of the courts have to be respected and implemented. So, I take note of the decision of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, the former Minister of Defence Mister [Yoav] Gallant, and the Hamas’ leaders. This decision is a binding decision and all States, all States parties of the [Rome Statute of] Court, which include all members of the European Union, are bound to implement this court decision.  

Q. [Inaudible] Approach to exercise pressure to find the solution for the Palestinian cause other than the approach you have been using or adopting? 

I think we have done everything we could, using the tools that we have in order to make peace, to avoid this tragedy, and to work for a political solution. I am very sorry that we could not get to this end.

Q. Mister Borrell, would you have a few words regarding your previous stands to stop dialogue with Israel? Are there any countries who have objected to this approach? 

Yes, two Member States. You know, two Member States of the European Union asked the Commission and to myself as High Representative to study if the behaviour of the Israeli government in fighting against Hamas and causing this great number of casualties was in accordance with the obligations of Israel [stemming] from our Association Agreement. Because the Association Agreement is not only an economic tool; it creates obligations from the point of view of international law and respect of international law by both parts. So, these Member States asked me and the Commission to study it. So, we presented a whole record of everything that has been happening and the witnesses and testimonies of international organisations, starting by United Nations’ organisations, analysing what has been happening, since the terrorist attacks of Hamas against Israel’s kibbutz, in Gaza and in the West Bank – and lately, in Lebanon. I presented this report, and I considered that, according to these facts, Israel was not fulfilling the obligations according to the Association Agreement. This was my assessment. This assessment was not approved by the Council. 

Q. [Inaudible] After one year of meetings by the Arab Foreign Ministers, where did you get at? Have you achieved truthful results? And the technical question is for Mister Borrell, many countries have asked Ukraine to stop war against Russia, why do not you take the same decision in relation to Gaza? 

You know, we are living historic moments. Europe is facing two wars: the war of aggression against Ukraine, by Russia, and the war in Gaza – and the violence in the West Bank and in Lebanon. My dear [Minister], I am happy that, by accident, we are here in Jordan, together, commenting these two wars.  

These wars are different. The answer of the European Union has always, in these cases, also been different. I will explain to you why. First, maybe it was an error of translation, because I interpreted that you were talking about the Ukrainian aggression against Russia. It would be the other way around, no? It is the other way around. It is not Ukraine who is aggressing Russia. It is Russia who has invaded Ukraine. On that the European Union has been, since the beginning, very firm and united. Not only the European Union; the great majority of the members of the General Assembly of the United Nations, rejecting this invasion. We have been united, until now, providing military support to Ukraine to defend itself against an aggression.  

About the war in Gaza, the European Union has not been united. Since the beginning there has been different approaches. Some Member States have been asking for a ceasefire, others not. When the moment came to vote at the [United Nations] General Assembly, some Members States voted in favour, others abstained, and others voted against. It shows clearly that there are different approaches. When there are different approaches, I cannot represent all of them together. They are so different that nobody can represent such different positions. My role is to look as much as I can for unity – as much as I can. Not to go deeper into the divisions, but to try to overcome the divisions in order to look for common grounds. There is at least a common ground, in which all Members of the European Union are together: to support a Palestinian state, as the only viable solution to the situation in the Middle East, and to ask for respect of the International Law and Humanitarian law in the middle of a war. This is the minimum common denominator. From there, there are different perceptions from Member States voting in favour of my proposal – others did not accept it. There are different positions, I am not saying anything that can be considered as a secret. It is something real, as life. You can explain these differences for historical and cultural reasons related which what happened in the Second World War and other circumstances. I am not going to enter into the ‘why’ of some different positions between Member States – but I think I can represent all the Member States of the European Union, on saying these two things. International Law has to be respected, civilians have to be protected, humanitarian law has to be fulfilled. I do not think this is happening. Personally, I do not think this is happening. There are blatant violations of Humanitarian Law, in the way this war is being conducted. Second thing is that we support a political solution to the conflict. The only political solution to the conflict in order to build peace is to give the Palestinians a state, their dignity, and their freedom. As difficult it could be, I do not see any solution. If someone is against this solution – and it seems that Mr [Benjamin] Netanyahu is against it – then he has the obligation of explaining which is the solution. Okay, you do not want the Two-State Solution, then what do you want? Which is your solution? Please tell us. The answer is not an answer, it is an action.  They do not say, they do- and what do they do? It is obvious, pushing the Palestinians out. But this is not a solution, because several millions of people will not vanish in the air. They will not disappear, they will not migrate to the moon. They stay. So, you do not want the Two-State Solution? Tell everybody which is your solution, because if the solution is the annihilation of the Palestinians, it will not happen. The whole international community will not accept this solution.  

Link to video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-264286