EU admits to "double standards" on Ukraine, Palestine

MADRID, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell admitted recently that the EU has applied double standards on the Ukraine crisis, as opposed to the situation in Gaza.

"We are very often criticized for double standards. But international politics is largely about applying double standards. We do not use the same criteria for all problems," Borrell, the bloc's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, told the Spanish-language daily El Pais during a recent interview.

The Ukraine crisis directly affects Europe, Borrell said.

Meanwhile, he called Gaza, with neither electricity nor drinking water, an "open-air prison," saying that resolving the Middle East conflict "is not in the hands of the EU."

Commenting on Borrell's remarks on applying double standards in international politics, Jose Luis Centella, president of the Communist Party of Spain, told Xinhua on Monday that "this shows the cynicism typical of a colonial mentality."

He called on the international community to actively promote the reform of the world governance system to make it fairer, more supportive, and more effective in solving the problems and challenges that humanity faces today.