"She's finished." In Italy, they spoke harshly about von der Leyen's ambitions

The conflict in the Middle East put an end to the idea of the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen about a "geopolitical Europe," said former adviser to the European Commissioner for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell, director of the Italian analytical center Istituto Affari Internazionali Natalie Tocci in an article for the American edition of Politico.

"Europe's approach to Ukraine provided the prerequisites to show what a geopolitical Europe could mean. The Middle East has shown that it (geopolitical Europe. — Editor's note) the end," the analyst believes.

Tocci also expressed the opinion that the EU has levers of influence on both sides of the conflict, but officials are afraid to use them.

According to the ex-adviser Borrel, the war in the Middle East revealed the "painful truth" about the divided state of Europe. In particular, the conflict in the Gaza Strip has shown that the issue of Palestinian independence cannot be ignored, the expert believes.