EU's Borrell hails UN chief's efforts to achieve peace, deplores attacks against him

LONDON

The European Union’s foreign policy chief expressed support Wednesday for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ work towards achieving peace, especially in the Middle East, and deplored the "unjustified attacks" against him.

"We support the UN Secretary General @AntonioGuterres in his tireless efforts to achieve peace in all the conflicts and particularly in the Middle East," Josep Borrell wrote on X.

"We deplore the unjustified attacks against him as well as the unacceptable number of casualties among UN humanitarian workers," he added.

Earlier, Israel announced that Guterres has been declared "persona non grata" and banned from entering the country after he demanded an urgent de-escalation in the Middle East.

Seeking to justify the move, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Guterres did not "unequivocally condemn" Iran for its missile attack Tuesday on Israel.

After the strikes, Guterres said: "I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation" and called for an immediate cease-fire.