“Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We call for restraint,” she wrote.
Her comments were echoed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, with Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera adding that “we need a rules-based world.”
France went a step further with its foreign minister condemning the American operation on social media. According to Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Maduro “gravely violated” the rights of Venezuelans, but the military operation that led to him being grabbed “contravenes the principle of non-use of force, which underpins international law.”
A rule-based world would require that breaking the rules has the same consequences for everyone.
However, since the same politicians who are now spouting their empty rhetoric are letting the US and Israel get away with their crimes without any consequences at all, the “rule-based” world they talk about is nothing more than hot air and hypocrisy.
Rules are not laws. When they say rule-based order they imply that they are not bound by international law but only by rules that they can change at any moment.