EU foreign ministers ask for list of actions to dissuade Israel from annexation

Officials from 11 countries write to the foreign policy chief asking for options that 'would 'contribute to our efforts to deter annexation, including legal consequences'

By Jewish News Reporter
15 July 2020, 12:59 pm
Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell testifies before the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs in 2019 (Wikipedia/ Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/european_parliament/48859228518/ Author: Author European Parliament from EU / Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode)

Foreign ministers from 11 European countries have asked the EU to give them a list of possible actions to dissuade Israel from annexing parts of the West Bank.

In their letter to the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, they said they wanted options that would “contribute to our efforts to deter annexation” including possible “legal consequences” for Israel of annexation.

They also wanted to know what effect annexation would have on Israel’s agreements with the EU, covering areas such as trade, travel, security cooperation, and research and development.

The letter, expressing “grave concern” over annexation plans, was signed by foreign ministers from Ireland, Italy, Belgium, France, Portugal, Malta, Denmark, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland.

Israel is reliant on support from its allies in the bloc, including Poland and Hungary – states whose increasingly right-wing governments have been accused of undermining their country’s democratic institutions.

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