The United Nations High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations (Unaoc), Miguel Ángel Moratinos, warned this Thursday of the danger that the conflict in the Middle East could lead to a third world war. “For the first time in my long diplomatic history, which lasts more than 40 years, I must tell you that I am extremely worried. “If we continue like this, we are on the verge of a real World War III. »
Because? “Because what will be the next step once Iran attacks? Let the Israeli government say: “It’s between the barbarians and the civilized.” Choose’. “Here, it is not a war of civilizations, it is a political, territorial, power war, but not of civilizations,” declared the former minister during a meeting organized by Cidob in Barcelona.
“If this continues,” Moratinos said, “new alliances will emerge. In the West, we will say that we must protect ourselves and continue against the barbarians. As? Eliminate them all. Let’s eliminate them all. Then the alliances will begin, the BRICS will soon meet in Moscow. And what will happen? Then they also go to war, and we enter into confrontation. “I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but I’m sending this message for the first time in 40 years of my professional, diplomatic and political life.”
Moratinos said that after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the response of the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu was based on “trauma and humiliation.”
“(Israel’s) response has been so excessive and the situation so degrading, dehumanizing and unsustainable that, for the sake of everyone, including Israel, we must say enough is enough,” he said.
He regretted that Netanyahu declared before the United Nations that it was a conflict between civilization and barbarism, even if Moratinos believes that this approach can permeate and change the “game of alliances” at the international level.
This is why he called for the creation of an international coalition, which would also include countries like Russia, China, South Africa and Brazil, to put an end to this “unacceptable” situation.
“There was a time when we Europeans set the tone; Then came the United States, whose efforts we see today but failure. It is therefore the entire international community that must put an end to this situation,” he defended.
Moratinos recalled that “the Russian Federation and Israel have a long history of friendship and cooperation” and literally regretted that the United States is overshadowed in the Middle East while Europe is disoriented. As for the United States, he declared that the Middle East “does not worry them that much” geopolitically and that the political class is traditionally on Israel’s side, even if he considers that American society is in the process of to change.
He said that resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestine requires a two-state solution and that, if that does not happen, “there will be no stability or solution” for either side. . “Let’s put both states on an equal footing to negotiate,” urged Moratinos, who welcomed the fact that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had defended the two-state solution and predicted that the Jewish people would eventually accept this option.
