Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the EU must take action against Israel, such as suspending the Association Agreement, or it will “lose credibility.” He compared the EU's policy against Israel to its policy against Russia and accused the alliance of “double standards.”
Pedro Sanchez announced this during the EU leaders' summit in Cyprus, the Spanish publication EFE reports.
Sanchez recalled that Italy and Germany opposed Spain's proposal to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement. According to him, this indicates a difference in the EU's approaches to Israel's war against Iran and the military operation in the Gaza Strip and Russia's war against Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, there are governments that support this and there are others that are against it; there is no unity on this issue, and the result of all this is weakening the European Union's position on our legitimacy, at least political, and our credibility when it comes to defending causes as just as the one in Ukraine,” Sanchez said.
He recalled that Article 2 of the Association Agreement requires the country to comply with international and humanitarian law.
“And it is clear that neither in Lebanon, nor in the West Bank, nor, of course, in Gaza, does Israel respect this, and this should also prompt us to reflect on this,” Sanchez said.
The Spanish Prime Minister stressed that Europe is a multilateral peace project and the EU must defend this international order and respect for international law. If this does not happen, then “the law of the strongest leads to a much weaker, more dangerous and uncertain world.”