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BRUSSELS, April 19 () –
Belgium will ask the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, to resume the debate on relations with Israel within the framework of the EU-Israel association agreement, following in the wake of Spain and Ireland, which at the end of February demanded a review of the agreement to study whether Tel Aviv is complying with its Human Rights obligations.
This was confirmed by the vice president in charge of Business and Public Service, Petra De Sutter, in a message on social networks in which she indicated that the country “will lead at EU level the re-evaluation of the association agreement with Israel.”
Furthermore, among the battery of measures, De Sutter has indicated that Belgium will promote a resolution in the United Nations in favor of the recognition of Palestine as a full member of the organization and a greater European ban on products coming from illegal Israeli settlements.
Belgian diplomatic sources explain that the agreement reached within the Belgian federal government means resuming the debate within the EU that Spain and Ireland began, when they requested the review of compliance with the EU-Israel agreement that governs relations between the bloc and Tel Aviv.
Belgium has participated in the debate raised by Spain and Ireland and “supports the proposals along these lines”, the sources have indicated, regarding the demand to study compliance with Human Rights obligations within the framework of the association agreement.
It was a letter from the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the then Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, that sparked the debate for the European Commission to review the agreement with Israel to investigate whether the essential points regarding Human Rights are being met. .
However, the issue was put aside a month later when the 27 did not follow up on the option of calling Israel from the association council, as requested by Spain. The head of European diplomacy noted that there was no “strong support” for the measure among the member states and instead proposed inviting the Israeli Foreign Minister to a future meeting in Brussels, with no date yet.
