OVIEDO, Spain: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday criticised the EU for not suspending its trade agreement with Israel over its military campaign in Gaza.
“It makes absolutely no sense that we’ve passed 18 sanctions packages on Russia for its aggression against Ukraine and Europe but, with double standards, haven’t even been able to suspend the Association Agreement with Israel when they are flagrantly violating Article 2 in terms of human rights,” he said ahead of the EU Council meeting in Brussels.
Sánchez stated that he would urge the European Union to “immediately” suspend its agreement with Israel during Thursday’s meeting.
Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement stipulates that respect for human rights and democratic principles is an “essential element” of the accord.
Spain and Ireland initially began pressing for the bloc to review the agreement in February 2024. However, it was not until a Dutch initiative in May that the EU agreed to undertake the review.
On Monday, foreign ministers convened to respond to the findings of the review, which indicated that Israel may have violated its human rights obligations in Gaza.
After the meeting, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas ruled out suspending the deal for now.
“Our first goal is to change the situation on the ground,” she said. “If the situation does not improve, then we can discuss further measures and come back in July.”
On Thursday, Sanchez said: “It is more than evident” that Israel has broken its human rights obligations under the deal and that the EU cannot wait any longer to take action.
