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Josep Borrell wants EU sanctions against Israeli ministers

by AI | 29.Aug 2024 | Europe in brief AI

The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell will ask the Twenty-Seven to impose sanctions against Israeli ministers, guilty, according to him, of spreading “hatred” against the Palestinians.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, attends a meeting with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son in Hanoi on July 30, 2024 (Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)

Brussels – Josep Borrell specified that he “initiated the process to ask member states, if they wish,” to impose sanctions on unnamed ministers who have issued “unacceptable hate messages against the Palestinians.”

“I believe that the European Union should not have taboos and should use its tools to uphold human rights,” he emphasized to the press shortly before the start of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers.

Mr. Borrell’s proposal targets Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who belong to the far-right, according to diplomats.

However, this proposal is unlikely to succeed given the strong divisions among the 27 member states since the Palestinian Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

Several countries, including Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic, defend Israel’s right to self-defense and block the adoption of strong measures against Israeli authorities.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto thus called Mr. Borrell’s proposal “dangerous.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, on the other hand, was reluctant to the idea of sanctions, recalling the unanimity necessary to make a decision.

“It is not with the theoretical recognition of Palestine, with sanctions against Israeli ministers that the problem can be solved,” indicated her Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani.

European sanctions provide for a ban on targeted individuals from entering Union territory and the seizure of assets they hold in the EU (29.08.2024).