Russian President Vladimir Putin helped rally the West when he went to war with Ukraine last year, and Western countries have maintained their strong support for the Ukrainian people.

But after the world’s attention turned away from Ukraine and toward the war in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide now fears that the closest unanimous support for Ukraine does not collapse.

The Foreign Minister believes that this could be linked to the way the West perceives the war between Israel and Hamas and that the West may have lost some of its confidence:

– Today we see a greater division between countries that support Israel and the vast majority who believe that there are strong “double standards” and that there is far too little understanding of the Palestinian perspective, says Eide at NRK.

Criticism of the “double standard”

Recently, the West has been criticized for operating under different standards in Ukraine and the Middle East, both by individuals social networks and by heads of state around the world.

When politicians from European and Middle Eastern countries met in Egypt in October to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas, Jordan’s King Abdullah visited hard to the west:

– Everywhere else, attacks on civilian infrastructure, the deliberate deprivation of food, water and basic necessities of an entire population would be condemned.

– International law loses all value if it is applied selectively.

The Jordanian king has received support from several Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud.

Eide now fears that an experience has spread that the lives of Palestinians are not as important as those of Israelis, and he calls this a “dangerous experience.”

Several NATO countries have also criticized Israel’s war in Gaza, including Canada, Spain and France, which have called on Israel to respect international law, according to The Guardian.

Could shake up support for Ukraine

Tuesday and Wednesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is in Brussels to meet his NATO colleagues. War in Ukraine and the Middle East are on the agenda.

Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Eide is concerned both about the impression that the West is operating under two standards – and that this could, in the worst case scenario, undermine support for Ukraine:

– We must take active steps to show that the norms we defend apply fully and regardless of who violates them, says Eide, referring to both humanitarian law and international law.

We must also criticize the countries that are close to us

The words used to describe war are important.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs clearly states that we should not hesitate to criticize countries simply because we are generally close to them:

– It is not particularly demanding to criticize someone you initially object to for breaking the rules. It’s more demanding when it’s a country you’re usually close to. But it is all the more important to express yourself. In international politics, norms are no stricter than the practices to which they lead.

– If we mean it in Ukraine, we have to say it in the Middle East, says Eide.

Foreign Minister tells NTB that Israel has the right to defend itself, but that Israel’s war in Gaza hair were in violation of humanitarian law.

– Maintaining an entire civilian population of 2.3 million people without water, electricity, medicine, food and fuel for many weeks constitutes a violation of humanitarian law. And we see that so many deaths, so many children, so many civilians are not proportionate to the desired goal.

– When we say this about Russian behavior in Bakhmut, it would be strange if we did not say it about Israeli behavior in Gaza, underlines the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Ukraine is in turmoil

Today, Ukraine fears that social division and reduced awareness of the war in Ukraine will lead to a decline in support in the future.

Ukrainian President Zelensky has wood several occasions expressed concern that the war in Ukraine has received less attention. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia of supporting Hamas precisely because the war in the Middle East has diverted attention from Ukraine.

Eide agrees that all those who wish to weaken the power and influence of the West are now wringing their hands over the situation. But it is clear that Norway’s support for Ukraine is unwavering:

– I spoke to Kuleba. Our support is constant and long-term.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged on Tuesday that it would be difficult to guarantee continued support for Ukraine, but that NATO would support them in any case:

– It is our duty to ensure that Ukraine receives the weapons it needs. It would have been a tragedy if Putin had won, not only for Ukraine, but also for us, he said.