The Czech Republic and Austria share solidarity with Ukraine and Israel, the ministers agreed

The Czech Republic and Austria share full solidarity with Ukraine, attacked by Russia, and with Israel after the attacks of the radical Hamas movement, and also share an opinion on the right of both countries to self-defense. This was said today by the head of Austrian diplomacy, Alexander Schallenberg, after a meeting with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský in Vienna.

According to Lipavsky, the world is in a global confrontation and it is necessary to share values, support the international order based on rules and support Ukraine and Israel.

Schallenberg said the attack on Israel by the radical Palestinian movement Hamas a month ago was shocking and inhumane. According to him, the tense situation is not only in the Middle East and Ukraine, but also in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Sahel, and there is also tension between Kosovo and Serbia. According to him, in such times of crisis, it is important that Austria and the Czech Republic can rely on each other. The Austrian minister also warned of growing anti-Semitism in Europe.

According to Lipavský, humanitarian aid must go to the Gaza Strip, but it must not fall into the hands of Hamas, who could use it for further attacks against Israel. Both he and Schallenberg called Hamas a terrorist organization.

Schallenberg also commented on the fact that some countries criticize the Israeli strikes against the Gaza Strip. According to him, the right to self-defense is not unlimited, it must be based on international humanitarian law. However, Schallenberg also stated that, according to him, there is a fundamental difference – Israel is trying to prevent civilian casualties and, for example, calls for evacuation, while Hamas is looking for civilian victims and trying to create a humanitarian crisis itself.

Schallenberg also called for the immediate release of the hostages, about 240 of whom were taken to the Gaza Strip.

Today, the ministers also talked about the process of enlargement of the European Union, not only to the states of Eastern Europe, such as Ukraine, but also to the countries of the Western Balkans. “It is the European Union that provides an unprecedented level of not only prosperity, but also security to its members,” said Lipavský. According to Schallenberg, the European Commission must give a clear signal to the candidate countries regarding their EU perspective.

The heads of diplomacy also discussed migration. The Austrian police conducts random checks on the border with the Czech Republic, as is the case with other countries in Central Europe. According to Lipavský, it is necessary to work on solving the migration issue as a whole, because mutual border controls also put mutual relations under pressure. (ČTK)