BRUSSELS — It’s unprecedented: This summit of European Union leaders is taking place as peace is shattered around Europe and in the Middle East.
Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on after more than a year and a half. Tensions are again rising between Serbia and Kosovo in the Balkans after decades of uneasy quiet. Warnings of ethnic cleansing emerged from Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian enclave Azerbaijan recently annexed in a military offensive.
And then there’s Israel war Hamas in Gaza, where violent war erupted amid the longer conflict earlier in October when Hamas launched an attack on Israel, and Israel retaliated with thousands of airstrikes on the Palestinian territory. As Israel prepares a ground invasion of Gaza, EU leaders have been struggling to find a common line on the Israel-Hamas war. And they’re concerned this conflict is overshadowing all others.
With recent elections in numerous European countries reshaping the political landscape, this summit of EU leaders, or European Council, is marked by shifting alliances around the issues of migration and security in the wake of recent acts of terror.
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