It is very difficult to predict development of situation in Middle East - politician

RIGA - It is very difficult to predict the development of the situation in the Middle East at the moment, because something can happen there at any moment and nothing might happen, Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) told Latvian Television this morning.

The politician noted that the great uncertainty is due to the large number of actors involved in the military conflict - Israel, Hamas and other terrorist organizations, as well as the United States, Egypt, etc.

In such a climate of uncertainty, the minister reiterated his call on the people of Latvia not to travel to countries in the region at the moment, including to Egyptian resorts, which could be one of the destinations during the upcoming school holidays.

In the Minister's view, European politicians' views on the current escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian terrorist conflict differ only in emphasis, but are not clearly contradictory, with one side placing greater emphasis on Israel's right to defend itself and the other on the protection of peaceful civilians. Karins acknowledged that humanitarian considerations are important and that in the case of Gaza, too, a distinction should be made between the treatment of civilians and the treatment of Hamas terrorists.

While European politicians differed on the nuances of their positions on Israel, they were fully united in their condemnation of Russia's war against Ukraine, he added.

Karins pointed out that migration pressure on Europe has been increasing recently, both on the EU's eastern border and on the EU's southern borders. In his view, the EU's external borders need to be tightly controlled to keep internal borders open, but EU countries and politicians do not yet have a common vision on the best way to tackle migration issues.