“Better late than never, but never again this late”

On Tuesday, 21 October 2025, MEP Irena Joveva took part in a plenary debate on the recent so-called Middle East peace agreement and the role of the European Union, where she made a clear call for immediate and decisive action: “Simply act. Better late than never, but never again this late.”

In her opening remarks, Joveva recalled that the European Union had been a silent observer of the events in Gaza for too long. As she stressed, the European institutions had been discussing, expressing concern and condemning the violence for years, but had done nothing concrete:

“You watched Gaza burn, you discussed, condemned, expressed concern… and yet you did not act. You observed genocide, but you did not dare to call it that. You spoke of principles, but you did not implement any of them. We betrayed the Palestinians. We betrayed the world and we betrayed humanity.”

With the recent conclusion of the so-called peace agreement, Joveva warned that we must ask ourselves: peace for whom?

“Is it really a ceasefire or – to quote Francesca Albanese – ‘you cease, I fire’,” she asked, adding that while the hatred between the far right in Israel and Hamas is fueled by each other, innocent civilians continue to pay the highest price.

She particularly drew attention to the role of the European Commission and its recently presented Pact for the Mediterranean, which, in Joveva’s assessment, unfortunately reaffirms the European Union’s double standards:

“You preach about stability and security and at the same time favor the aggressor, while you only mention Palestine symbolically. Is this really the role we want to play? Do we really want to watch human rights being violated, people being killed and the world continuing to burn?”

In conclusion, she called for immediate and decisive action, which must have clear consequences in the event of a breach of the agreement – ​​sanctions, isolation and accountability for violators:

“Just act. Better late than never, but never again this late.”

EP/Alexis HAULOT