Spain wants to scrap EU trade agreement with Israel

TT

Published 15.54

          

         Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Archive photo. Photo: Ng Han Guan/AP/TT

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wants the EU to terminate the association agreement with Israel.

“It is time,” Sánchez writes on X.

“We have nothing against the people of Israel, quite the opposite. But a government that violates international law and thus the EU’s principles and values ​​cannot be our partner,” he continues.

The association agreement regulates trade and cooperation between the EU and Israel and came into force in 2000.

Spain, Ireland and Slovenia have written a letter to the EU Commission urging the agreement to be discussed at the next meeting of foreign ministers.

An EU review last year found that there were “indications” that Israel had violated the part of the agreement that ensures respect for human rights and democratic principles. The review was conducted at the request of, among others, Sweden.