The EU in a World of Wars
EUROPE, 9 Mar 2026
Michael von der Schulenburg MEP and Ruth Firmenich MEP - TRANSCEND Media Service
Today (2 Mar 2026) MEPs Michael von der Schulenburg and Ruth Firmenich have called – through the open letter below to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola – for a special session of the European Parliament in light of the large‑scale military operation currently being conducted by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The recent declaration by Macron, Merz, and Starmer, which portrays the attacked state of Iran as the aggressor and even threatens it with military action, risks abandoning any reasonable European response. This could further aggravate an already highly dangerous situation.
The EU must anchor its policies in consistent principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations. For this reason, and at this critical moment for international peace, we have called for a special session of the European Parliament to be convened.
Michael von der Schulenburg MEP
Ruth Firmenich MEP
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Request for a Special Session of the European Parliament
to Uphold a Global Order Based on the Charter of the United Nations
2 March 2026
Dear Ms. Metsola,
We express our deep alarm at the large‑scale military operation currently being conducted by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran—a war that risks engulfing the entire region and destabilising global security. At this critical moment for international peace, the European Parliament must urge all parties to halt hostilities without delay and return immediately to the negotiating table. Above all, to safeguard the European Union’s integrity and credibility, the Parliament must, in this context, reaffirm its steadfast commitment to international law and to the Charter of the United Nations.
For this reason, we respectfully request that you convene a special session of the European Parliament.
This attack constitutes a grave violation of international law and of the UN Charter, to which all states involved are parties. What makes this development even more troubling is that—just as with the attack on Iran in June 2025—it occurred while the United States and Iran were still engaged in active diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful settlement. According to the Foreign Minister of Oman who mediated these talks, the negotiations were making tangible progress. He even spoke of a possible break-through. The attacks were hence a glaring violation of mediation efforts demanded in the UN Charter as the way in which to settle conflicts.
These attacks were unprovoked. Iran has not threatened military action against any of its neighbours, including Israel. Nor does Iran pose a threat to the United States. It is neither developing nuclear weapons nor pursuing intercontinental missile capabilities—facts confirmed even by U.S. intelligence assessments. This attack by two nuclear powers is therefore particularly alarming, as it reinforces the dangerous perception that states without nuclear weapons remain vulnerable to arbitrary military strikes. Such a precedent undermines confidence in the UN Non-Proliferation Treaty and may lead other states to conclude that only nuclear armament—North Korea being a case in point—can guarantee their security.
Equally unacceptable are the open and repeated calls for regime change in Iran and the targeted assassinations of Iranian leaders. These actions constitute a flagrant breach of the UN Charter’s principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. In any case, recent history offers no example in which foreign-imposed regime change has produced stability or prosperity. Even where leadership was forcibly removed, the result has invariably been years of chaos, anarchy, economic and social decline, and immeasurable human suffering.
It is particularly troubling that this attack was ordered by a President of the United States who was elected on the promise of ending wars rather than initiating new ones. With this decision, the world is sliding ever more rapidly toward an international order defined by the law of the strongest—an order in which war and violence once again become acceptable tools for settling disputes and projecting power. In an era marked by ever more destructive nuclear weapons and increasingly rapid missile systems, such a trajectory carries dangers that could prove unimaginable risks for the survival of humankind.
The European Union must take a clear and principled stand against this perilous development.
We herewith call on all our colleagues in the European Parliament to support our request for a special session.
Michael von der Schulenburg MEP
Ruth Firmenich MEP
Cc: High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas
All Members of the European Parliament
Tags: Europe, European Parliament, European Union, Iran, Israel, USA, Warfare
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 9 Mar 2026.
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