On Monday, June 23rd, EU foreign ministers were presented with a recent review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement by the bloc’s diplomatic corps, led by Foreign Affairs High Representative Kaja Kallas, which determined that Israel is “in breach of its human rights obligations,” especially when it comes to aid distribution in Gaza.
As we wrote earlier, while withdrawing from the association agreement does not have enough support from member states, the EU could still put pressure on Israel by imposing certain trade restrictions without unanimous approval, especially in trade affecting Israeli settlements.
During the press conference on Monday, Kallas said no concrete decision has been made yet, and Israel should not consider the document itself as a threat, but merely a warning aimed at improving the situation.
“It is not intended to punish Israel, but to trigger concrete improvement to the lives of the people in Gaza,” Kallas said, adding that the one measure Brussels expects the most is opening the door for unrestricted international aid deliveries.
“If the situation does not improve, then we can discuss further measures in July,” she added, but wouldn’t specify what she or the ministers had in mind as concrete sanctions.
When pressed about whether the previously floated trade restrictions had been discussed, Kallas said that the issue of “violent settlers” had been raised during the meeting, but refused to say whether there was any plan to address it.
As for Iran, Kallas once again reiterated that the EU has considered the Islamic Republic a threat to the international order for decades and it must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, but also stressed that “what matters now is minimizing the risk” of this conflict spilling over into other countries.
“Today, ministers urged all sides to take a step back, return to the negotiation table, and prevent further escalations,” the diplomat said. “Extending this war benefits no one.”
