(JNi.media) EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Saturday, after a two-day informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg that Europe will soon decide on the rules concerning labels that will inform consumers when imported Israeli products come from Jewish farmers in Judea and Samaria.
“The work is close to being finished but it is still ongoing,” she said. Some EU countries, including Britain, already warn consumers about products made by Jews in the area largely east of the 1949 armistice line, also known as the “green line.” That area, which includes parts of Jerusalem, was captured by Jordan in 1949 but was never formally annexed, so that when it was captured by Israel in 1967, it had the status of a no man’s land. International Law forbids an occupying country to transfer civilians into land taken in war, but it does not hold the same restrictions in a case where the land did not legally belong to anyone.
Having resolved the issue of alerting European consumers about the different identities of the Jews who sell them goods, Mogherini turned to dealing with the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria, Iraq, and east and north Africa, declaring that the refugees are not going anywhere, and member states must adjust to this new reality.
“It is here to stay; the sooner we accept it, the sooner we will be able to respond effectively [and] united as Europeans,” Mogherini said, admitting that the problem “affects all of us. A few months ago, it was Italy, Greece and Malta. Now it is Hungary and it could (be the) turn of other member states in the future.”
Even while Mogherini speaking, Austrian police reported that 4,000 people had crossed into the country early Saturday morning, with their number rising to as much as 10,000 during the day.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his country had an understanding with Austria and Hungary on easing the pressure by letting the refugees through this time, but warned that this should not set a precedent. “The help in the emergency situation was linked to an urgent appeal not to make out of this the practice for the coming days,” he said.