The European Union should play its unique role in Israel-Iran conflict in Middle East peace efforts and reduce dependence on the United States, said a scholar from a Brussels-based think tank while commenting on the intensifying Israel-Iran conflict.
As the division between the EU and the U.S. has been exposed amid the escalating Israel-Iran hostilities, European experts have argued that the European side should reflect on its the reliance on the United States in terms of the security issue.
Sven Biscop, director of the Europe in the World program at Egmont – Royal Institute for International Relations, said that European countries must develop autonomous military capabilities.
"In my view, that means that all the European forces of NATO together should be able to operate, if necessary, without American help, no longer being shown the dependence on the United States. And also we will have to act very urgently, whereas it would have been wiser to start to rebuild our forces a few years earlier," Biscop said.
Biscop said the EU should take an active part in the Middle East and the Gulf to guard against spillover effects from the region and push for an agreement among all parties concerned.
"Unfortunately Europe, for the moment, has little influence in the Middle East and the Gulf. We must play a more active role again in the Middle East and the Gulf, because it's in our neighborhood. And if things go wrong, the early spillover effects will hit us first. So I think in the past, we have not paid enough attention to the region, and this is something to be corrected. I think we should make our position clear that what we want is a balanced regional agreement, a consensus between all the key players. From the European point of view, we don't have to choose sides in this, we just need all the parties to come to an agreement," he said.
The conflict enters the seventh consecutive day on Thursday. Israel carried out fresh waves of airstrikes in Iran on Wednesday, with the Israeli military saying it was targeting nuclear-related facilities and weapons sites.
Overnight, Iran launched two missile barrages at Israel, triggering air raid sirens across the country and sending millions to shelters. Security officials said several missiles were intercepted, while others sparked fires. There were no reports of casualties, according to emergency services.
The current hostilities began with Israeli airstrikes on Iran on June 13. Nearly 600 people have been killed in Iran and 24 in Israel since the aerial conflict erupted, according to official figures.
EU needs greater independence on Iran-Israel conflict: scholar
A leading Japanese economist has warned that the Bank of Japan's anticipated interest rate hike will not address the country's fundamental economic problems, calling instead for structural reforms and stronger support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The economist's comments come as the yen exchange rate continues to hover near 160 yen per U.S. dollar, with Japanese media and financial markets widely expecting the Bank of Japan to announce a rate hike at its monetary policy meeting on June 15 and 16.
"Japanese political and economic scholar Hamada Kazuyuki said: "The future trend of the Japanese economy is also affected by factors such as rising crude oil prices and inflation, and there are no signs of these problems being resolved anytime soon. If left unchecked, they will develop into a serious inflationary trend. This will not only affect enterprises but also the daily lives of ordinary people. Therefore, in order to curb these impacts, the Bank of Japan is taking countermeasures and adjusting toward the direction of raising interest rates. However, whether these measures can truly be effective still remains highly uncertain," he said.
He also noted that the operations of small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan continue to face pressure, and the overall recovery of the Japanese economy is filled with uncertainty. The Japanese government's model of relying on debt to rescue the market only addresses symptoms rather than root causes and cannot solve the fundamental problems of the Japanese economy, he added.
"More than 80 percent, or even 90 percent, of Japanese enterprises are small and medium-sized enterprises. Only a small number of large enterprises have gained profits from exchange rate fluctuations. The vast majority of small and medium-sized enterprises are already on the edge of life and death. Therefore, without more adequate support policies for small and medium-sized enterprises, it will be very difficult for the Japanese economy to achieve recovery or restoration. The current government is in a rather difficult situation. Originally, it said no supplementary budget was needed, but as the economy deteriorates, it has no choice but to rely on supplementary budgets and deficit financing to barely cope. But this is not a fundamental solution. Continuing down this path will only make Japan's situation further deteriorate. Therefore, if the government truly wants to improve the economy, it must cut waste within the existing fiscal scope and concentrate resources into truly effective areas. This is the necessary direction," he said.
Japanese economist warns rate hike inadequate, urges structural reform
