Egypt Daily News – United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, stated that the European Union is legally required to suspend its association agreement with Israel.
Her remarks were published Tuesday on the social media platform X, coinciding with a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels to discuss a potential suspension of the agreement.
Albanese criticized the EU’s debate over whether Israel has committed human rights violations, calling the discussion “absurd,” as the International Court of Justice and various UN bodies have already issued clear rulings on the matter, according to Anadolu Agency.
She emphasized that numerous studies show the EU is not only Israel’s largest trading partner, but also its biggest foreign investor.
Albanese urged the EU to suspend the partnership agreement with Israel, noting that EU exports to Israel increased by $1.2 billion between 2023 and 2024.
She stressed the need to halt exports, arguing that continued trade with an economy closely tied to occupation, apartheid, and genocide constitutes complicity and undermines the international legal order.
Albanese further accused the EU of a moral and legal failure toward the Palestinian people. She stated that the bloc now faces a decisive choice: either deepen this moral stain or uphold the values it claims to represent.
EU foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to examine possible sanctions against Israel over alleged human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Following public calls and a Dutch proposal, the EU began a formal review of its association agreement with Israel on May 20, under the clause requiring compliance with human rights and international law.
While experts believe a full suspension of the agreement is unlikely due to the need for unanimous consent among member states, the suspension of specific provisions—such as those related to free trade, scientific research, technology, culture, and political dialogue—remains a possibility, as those decisions require only a qualified majority.
Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia have expressed support for suspending the agreement, while Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary remain opposed.
