Portugal opposes Borrell’s proposal to suspend political dialogue with Israel

The Portuguese Government said on Monday it is against the proposal by the European Union (EU) foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, to suspend political dialogue with Israel in light of the attacks in Gaza, stressing that “it is not the ideal moment”.
The position of the Portuguese executive was conveyed in Brussels by the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Inês Domingos, who argued with “substantive reasons”, since Lisbon considers that the dialogue “is positive”, but also with “timing reasons”, at a time “when there is a transition at the level of the EU executive”.
“At this moment, we consider (…) that it is important to preserve the political dialogue”, she stated.
Speaking to Portuguese journalists in Brussels at the end of a Foreign Affairs Council, in which Josep Borrell unsuccessfully presented this proposal to suspend the political dialogue with Tel Aviv, the official stressed that, for the moment, “the position is this”, recalling that Portugal, “in several circumstances in which it disagrees with governments and government actions, continues to maintain political dialogue”, notably maintaining diplomatic representation in these countries.
“Regarding the Middle East, Portugal has had a balanced position which, on the one hand, has condemned some actions of the Israeli Government (…), it is also true (…) maintains a coherent position of considering that it is always positive to maintain political dialogue, even because political dialogue also allows us to try to influence the position of all parties involved”, added Inês Domingos.
Today, upon arriving at the meeting in the Belgian capital, the European foreign policy chief advocated greater pressure on Israel, through a proposal to suspend political dialogue with Tel Aviv, in order to end the war with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as he sees no “possibility of it happening”.
Josep Borrell noted he had “no more words” to classify the war in Gaza, when according to the United Nations (UN) there have already been about 44,000 killed, 70% of whom women or children, and most of the territory’s infrastructure is destroyed.
EU foreign ministers today debated the European foreign policy chief’s proposal to suspend political dialogue with Israel, under the association agreement’s provisions on human rights, but as it is a divisive issue among the bloc’s 27 member states, it was not possible to reach a consensus.
The community’s foreign affairs chief fulfilled, nonetheless, his promise to bring this issue to the last meeting of foreign ministers chaired by him, before handing over the baton to Estonian Kaja Kallas.
According to reports from independent international bodies, there are reasons to believe that Israel is violating human rights and international humanitarian law in its offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.
Political dialogue between the EU and Israel is foreseen within the association framework between Brussels and Tel Aviv.
The proposal to suspend political dialogue, however, does not mean the suspension of the association agreement or the Association Council with the country.
The war launched by Israel against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, after the terrorist attack by this organization on October 7, 2023, in the south of Israeli territory, continues to threaten to spread throughout the entire Middle East region, having already resulted in at least 43,736 deaths (almost 2% of the enclave’s population), including more than 17,000 minors, and 103,370 injured, as well as more than 10,000 missing, according to the UN.