Spain urges EU to suspend free trade agreement with Israel

Spain has called on fellow members of the European Union to suspend a free trade deal between the EU and Israel, amid the regime's ongoing aggression in the Gaza Strip.

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15 October 2024

EghtesadOnline: Since Tel Aviv launched its genocidal campaign last year, Spain and Ireland have been mounting pressure on the Israeli regime, jointly pushing to restore peace in West Asia.

Since February, both Spain and Ireland have been engaged in diplomatic efforts, touring European capitals and talking with other EU leaders who want a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that the Israeli regime was in violation of the free trade agreement's human rights clause.

On Monday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged other EU members to respond to Madrid and Dublin's call and suspend Brussels’ free trade agreement with Tel Aviv over its ongoing aggression against the Palestinian and Lebanese people.

“The European Commission must respond once and for all to the formal request made by two European countries to suspend the association agreement with Israel if it is found, as everything suggests, that human rights are being violated,” Sanchez said at an event in Barcelona.

The call from Sanchez adds to growing dissonance among member countries on what stance the EU should take on its trade ties with the Israeli regime. While Spain, Ireland, and Belgium want to suspend the agreement and mount pressure on Tel Aviv through trade sanctions, countries such as Finland, Austria, and Germany are more hesitant. / Mehr