{"id":447696,"date":"2026-03-16T13:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T12:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/03\/16\/ucraina-iran-e-le-relazioni-con-gli-stati-uniti-lue-fatica-a-trovare-una-posizione-in-politica-estera\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T14:18:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T13:18:31","slug":"ukraine-iran-and-relations-with-the-us-eu-struggles-to-forge-a-foreign%e2%80%91policy-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/03\/16\/ukraine-iran-and-relations-with-the-us-eu-struggles-to-forge-a-foreign%e2%80%91policy-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine, Iran and relations with the US: EU struggles to forge a foreign\u2011policy line"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 “It was clear from the outset that a war with Iran would entail the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/strong>” The words of Austria\u2019s Foreign Minister, Beata Meinl-Reising<\/strong>, encapsulate the historic moment facing the European Union, as it grapples with existential fears and challenges. First and foremost, she states in no uncertain terms, there is the “fear that what we went through in 2022  might be a mere fraction of what we could face with the blockade of Hormuz”<\/strong>. This means that the high energy prices caused by the war in Ukraine and skyrocketing inflation could be a walk in the park. <\/p>\n

Austria\u2019s comments are a clear criticism of Israel and the United States, responsible for triggering a conflict<\/a>, which \u201cmust come to an end,\u201d the Austrian official insists. \u201cThe only thing that would have a positive impact on the Hormuz crisis is an end to the war,\u201d accompanied by a \u201cnuclear deal.\u201d A viewpoint that differs from that of some partners, both European and transatlantic, and which highlights differences and divisions.<\/p>\n

 https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/03\/13\/u-put-to-the-test-by-the-crisis-energy-competitiveness-and-the-middle-east-on-the-summit-agenda\/<\/a><\/p>\n

On Iran, Finland and Lithuania take a completely different line: they continue to condemn Iran\u2019s military responses and hold the ayatollahs\u2019 regime responsible for what is happening. In the remarks by the foreign\u2011policy chiefs of Helsinki and Vilnius, Elina Valtonen <\/strong>and K\u0119stutis Budrys, one sees once again Europe\u2019s own spiral over principles and values: why, unlike in the case of Ukraine, is it acceptable to bomb Iran, while expecting it not to return fire? <\/p>\n

It is on the issue of law and principle that the European Union gets lost,<\/strong> adding to its already inherent structural difficulties the challenge of reaching a consensus on foreign policy. The EU\u2019s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, is working on possible solutions with the UN Secretary\u2011General<\/a> at a time when the main actors in the Middle East conflict are openly mocking the United Nations \u2014 even if the attack is, admittedly, personal and outside any international mandate \u2014 and when democratic America shows an authoritarian streak on matters of press freedom<\/a>, raising serious questions about the country\u2019s reliability.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the United States, “we believe that the US easing of sanctions on Russian oil sets a dangerous precedent,<\/strong> because right now we need Russia to have fewer funds to finance the war, not more,” Kallas saids ahead of the start of the today’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting<\/a> (16 March). There is a rift with the historic partner, which is no longer the partner it once was, with the White House occupant, Donald Trump, threatening to pull the plug on NATO if the Europeans do not intervene in Hormuz. Here, Kallas glosses over the issue. “NATO is a defence alliance<\/strong>,” the Romanian Foreign Minister, Oana-Silvia Toiu, cuts short, in what amounts to a veiled “no” to the US demands. Poland is considering the matter: \u201cWe have already said \u2018no\u2019, but there are procedures that have not yet been activated. If the United States activates them, we will assess the situation carefully,\u201d says Radoslaw Sikorski<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/03\/02\/gli-usa-indeboliscono-russia-cina-e-india-ma-lue-non-ha-nulla-da-festeggiare\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The issue of sanctions against Russia has reignited the EU-wide debate over support for Ukraine, with the Netherlands, France, Lithuania, and Luxembourg determined to overcome Hungary’s veto<\/a> on the 20th sanctions package<\/a>. Hungary\u2019s \u2018no\u2019 vote currently appears insurmountable, and virtually all delegations will attempt to corner Budapest, without success. “Overall, the EU\u2019s sanctions policy is a massive failure<\/strong>,”  Budapest\u2019s Foreign Minister, P\u00e9ter Szijjarto<\/strong>, said, who is blunt on the 90 billion euro loan: “As long as the blockade on oil transit from <\/strong>Druzhba pipeline<\/a> continues, we will not vote in favour.<\/strong>“<\/p>\n

The Ukraine issue is even more complex than that. As Luxembourg\u2019s Foreign Minister, Xavier Bettel<\/strong>, explains, there is a problem with how the matter is being handled. \u201cWhen I was Prime Minister, I spoke on the phone with Russian President Putin every week, and then I received calls from colleagues in Poland and the Baltic states telling me that my country is too small to be able to negotiate, and this is a question of mindset <\/strong>because it is not a country\u2019s size that determines its relations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 27 member states are divided on many issues, and with the US problem \u2013 whether it be Ukraine, energy or Iran \u2013 the European Union is increasingly unable to act on the geopolitical stage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":447668,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25711,25707],"tags":[26327,25833,31257,25866,26413,27569,27337,25804,25803,30781],"class_list":["post-447696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","category-world-politics","tag-energy-en","tag-ue-stati-uniti-en","tag-iran-in-2","tag-middle-east-en","tag-sanctionsin","tag-russia-in-2","tag-ukraine-in-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447696"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":447697,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447696\/revisions\/447697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}