The European Union's 27 member states issued a joint statement expressing "utmost concern" after the bloc's foreign ministers met online for nearly three hours to discuss the American-Israeli attack on Iran over the weekend and Tehran's subsequent military response on several countries in the region.
The statement, issued on March 1, reflects the EU's limited influence in the region and its diminished role as a foreign policy player.
The crisis has highlighted the underlying divisions in the club that are bubbling underneath the surface.
The crisis, predictably, set off a flurry of meetings in Brussels even after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's initial tweet -- saying she would gather security experts in her commission first on Monday -- drew ridicule online that said not even a war get bring Europeans to sacrifice their free time.
SEE ALSO: Iran's Supreme Leader Is Dead. Who Will Succeed Him? It's Complicated.The bloc will try to have a ministerial meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council later in the week, and Cyprus, which is in charge of the rotating EU presidency, called an Integrated Political Crisis Response meeting for March 3, which previously met during the early stages of the Ukraine war, the Covid outbreak, and the 2015 migration crisis. The key issue at hand will be coordinating consular help to get EU citizens home from the wider Middle East region.
Cyprus itself had to play down the potential threat to Nicosia as an Iranian drone targeted a British base on the island. It issued a statement claiming that "there is no indication whatsoever that the country was under threat."
What Else Can The EU Do?
The European Union has already imposed all kinds of sanctions on Iran, including the recent designation of IRGC as a terrorist organization.
Foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas floated the idea of enlarging the bloc's naval mission, Aspides. Operationally in the Red Sea, it was launched two years ago to fend off Houthi attacks on international ships. It is, however, purely defensive and meant to increase maritime surveillance and escorting merchant vessels -- it wouldn't be able to, for example, prevent blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
SEE ALSO: Hanna Notte: US-Israeli Attack On Iran 'Will Only Harden Russia's Position On Ukraine'Instead, the bloc should try to stay on the same page. The E3 -- France, Germany, and Britain, which isn't in the EU -- has already pledged to assist the United States if necessary. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it wasn't the time "to lecture our partners and allies" while on the other side of the spectrum, Spanish premier Pedro Sanchez condemned the US-Israeli strikes and insisted the EU statement should mention "full respect for international law."
In parallel, Hungary and Slovakia used the Iran discussion and the prospect of higher oil prices to push for a resumption of oil flowing through the Druzhba pipeline. The landlocked duo urged the European Commission to put bigger pressure on Ukraine to repair the Soviet-era infrastructure while Russia hawks in northern and Eastern Europe, on the other hand, countered that higher prices will benefit the Kremlin and urged a maritime ban on Moscow, stuck due to Hungary and Slovakia, to be endorsed swiftly.
In other words, the EU is unfortunately too tangled up to come forward with anything concrete anytime soon.