Spain redoubles pressure to suspend association agreement with Israel: "The EU is playing with its credibility"

BrusselsSpain redoubles pressure on the European Union to apply restrictions against Israel. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has once again proposed in the EU Council this Tuesday that the European bloc suspend the association agreement with Israel or, at least, break it partially. "The European Union is playing with its credibility. [...] What more has to happen for the European Union to be moved?", the head of Spanish Foreign Affairs has asked himself.

Albares recalled that Spain, along with a small group of other member states, had already proposed on other occasions to review the association agreement, without success, because they considered that Tel Aviv was violating international and humanitarian law in Gaza. Although it was not approved due to a lack of support among European partners, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs has stressed that the situation is currently "worse". "Israel has not stopped advancing and escalating the spiral of violence and war", assured the socialist leader, who has harshly criticized the Israeli "invasion" of Lebanon.

Despite Moncloa's pressure, support for a total suspension of the EU's association agreement with Israel is a minority view, at least at this stage and publicly. And, for this reason, Albares has assured that he would also support the approval of lesser pressure measures against Benjamin Netanyahu's government, such as a partial rupture of this pact. "We request that the association agreement be suspended entirely, but there is a range of possibilities", recalled the head of Spanish Foreign Affairs.

Giorgia Meloni's government suspended the defense agreement between Rome and Tel Aviv last weekLack of support

Now, it is a consensus that is also complicated to reach, especially if one takes into account that some member states that carry significant weight within the European Union, such as Germany or Italy, have so far shown themselves to be against applying trade restrictions against Israel that would mean an increase in tariffs for the Israeli country. And, despite the fact that the government of Giorgia Meloni suspended the defense agreement between Rome and Tel Aviv last week, it has not changed its opinion regarding the relations it considers the EU should maintain with Israel, at least as of today and publicly. Furthermore, traditionally pro-Israeli European partners such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Austria, among others, are also usually found in this group.

On the contrary, beyond Ireland and Slovenia, which are the countries that, along with Spain, have requested the suspension of the association agreement with Israel, one of the few member states that have openly shown themselves in favor of increasing pressure has been Belgium. "For months we have been calling for at least a partial suspension of the association agreement between Israel and the EU, as we are aware that a total suspension is out of reach due to the states' positions," admitted the Belgian Foreign Minister, Maxime Prévot. On the other hand, France and the Netherlands have shown themselves to be ambiguous about their support for the proposal led by Sánchez.