France calls Israel's designation of UN chief as 'persona non grata' ‘unjustified’
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Paris: Antonio Guterres, the chief of the UN, was declared "persona non grata" by Israel on Thursday, an action that was denounced by France as "unjustified.”
"France regrets the unjustified, serious and counter-productive decision taken by Israel to declare the secretary general of the United Nations, Mr Antonio Guterres, persona non grata," the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
Paris said it had "full support for and confidence" in Guterres, adding that the United Nations played "a fundamental role in the stability of the region.”
Declaring the UN chief "persona non grata" on Wednesday, Israel accused him of not strongly condemning Iran's missile assault on its territory. In his opening remarks, Guterres spoke of the "broadening conflict in the Middle East" but left out Iran's strike. Later on, he did condemn Iran's missile assault, AFP reported.
Israel has been a vocal critic of the UN, and relations between the two have been worse since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. The ally's action has already drawn criticism from the US. Additionally, in a speech in Pontevedra, his home province of Spain, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell defended Guterres, stressing that "attacks on the UN secretary-general" must be opposed.
"Yes, everything started with the terrorist attacks by Hamas that we condemn, but these attacks, as the UN secretary-general has said, didn't come from nowhere," Borrell declared.
The attacks were "the umpteenth chapter of, a long story that started before," he added.
"To say that should not mean someone being called or given the insult of being anti-Semitic," said Borrell.
"This word should not be trivialized... it is too serious, too painful to be applied to someone who expresses an opinion different from that of a government."
Borrell stated that while Israel has the right to defend itself, "this right, like all rights, has limits."
"The question that we, Europeans, do not want to ask ourselves, or at least do not want to answer, is whether these limits have been reached. My answer is yes, unfortunately," he said.