Borrell leaves post as EU’s top diplomat ‘frustrated’ over inability to stop ‘massacre’ in Gaza

OVIEDO, Spain

Outgoing EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday that he is leaving Brussels “with an enormous, gigantic level of frustration” over the “inability to stop the massacre” in Gaza.

In his last official interview as the EU high representative for foreign affairs, he described the situation in Gaza to the Spanish broadcaster RNE as “Dantean,” referring to the hellish scenes depicted by Italian writer Dante.

“There are 250,000 people in the north that the UN has stopped supplying because they cannot enter and cannot offer them anything. The security situation is absolutely appalling. So what will happen? They will die of hunger, illness, and abandonment,” said Borrell.

“The world isn’t aware of what’s happening there. And those of us who are aren’t able to get the doors to open to get aid in so these people can survive.”

The Spanish politician, who became the EU’s top diplomat in December 2019, said the world has gotten “much, much worse” since he took office.

Besides the inability to stop the attacks on Gaza, he pointed to growing tensions across the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Iran.

“It seems fine for now, but it’s a powder keg where something much more serious could happen,” he said.

The only positive point he mentioned was the Lebanon cease-fire that entered into force on Wednesday, though he warned it is “very fragile” as Israel, backed by the US, reserves the right to intervene if something is not working for them.

Russian troops on Polish border

Borrell also described the situation in Ukraine as “worsening” and said he is pessimistic that US President-elect Donald Trump will improve it.

“Everyone says that Trump thinks he will end the war quickly, but I can’t think of another way to end the war quickly than by ending help for Ukraine and kneeling before the Kremlin,” he said.

Borrell emphasized that Ukraine is able to defend itself only as long as its allies support it.

“If you stop helping Ukraine, the war ends, and you have Russian tanks in Kyiv, the Russian army at the Polish border, the Ukrainian people deported to Siberia and a change of regime in Kyiv,” he said.

“I don’t want this to be the way we end the war, and the Ukrainians even less so. If Trump has another solution, I don’t know. No one knows.”

What comes next

Asked if he had any advice for his successor, Kaja Kallas, the former prime minister of Estonia, he said he did not because she brings “ample experience” to the table.

He complimented her plan to visit Ukraine as her first official act, but added that she will need to pay attention to global developments.

He said Europeans can no longer consider themselves as “the center of the world” because they represent only 5% of the global population, have diminishing economic weight, a low birthrate and weak defense.

“The war in Ukraine helped us wake up. But sometimes you wake up, roll over, and go back to sleep. It’s not about waking up; it’s about getting out of bed and going to work because times are tough and Europe’s position is fragile,” he said.

As for Borrell, he said he will need to get used to having free time again.

The 77-year-old said he will prioritize “relearning” how to read long books slowly and going for walks.

“I need to rebuild my body and mind,” he said.