EU Defends Commitment to International Law After Vatican Criticism

The EU on Monday defended its commitment to international law after the Vatican accused Brussels last week of applying a double standard when it comes to war. Speaking at Pope Leo XIV’s closed-door conference on war last Friday, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief, argued that governments have increasingly been invoking international law based on political convenience rather than universal principles. He accused the bloc of inconsistency in its foreign policy, imposing sanctions on some countries and providing military and financial support to others, even when faced with what he described as “more serious invasions with even more brutal consequences” elsewhere. The contradiction, Fernández argued, reflected political and economic interests instead of a stable commitment to international law. Brussels, in response, stopped short of engaging directly with the criticism. “We do not usually comment on comments,” Paula Pinho, chief Commission spokesperson, told POLITICO on Monday. European External Action Service spokesperson Anouar El Anouni reiterated the bloc’s standard position, saying the EU “calls for respect for international law, and this at all times and under all circumstances,” while condemning “violations of human rights, killing of journalists, targeting of civilians, including civilian infrastructure” wherever they occur. But not everyone in Brussels was so cautious, with the criticism quickly finding support among some members of the European Parliament. “The Vatican is voicing what much of the Global South feels: The EU does not stand for universal values. It stands for corporate interests,” Belgian MEP Marc Botenga told POLITICO. “EU foreign policy can be summed up as: Do as I say, not as I do.” Botenga, a member of the Left group in the European Parliament, questioned why the bloc had responded so forcefully to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while, in his view, failing to take similar action over Israel’s actions in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, or the war on Iran. Irish MEP and member of Sinn Féin Lynn Boylan likewise said Fernández was “correct to call out this double standard.” She argued the EU had adopted 20 sanctions packages against Russia while allowing Israel to act “with impunity.” She went on to point to Europe’s continued arms exports to Israel, trade with Israeli settlements and the EU-Israel Association Agreement despite the country’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. “You cannot claim to champion human rights and international law if you selectively apply their core pillars,” Boylan told POLITICO.