Denmark ready to suspend EU trade ties with 'Israel', sanction gov: FM
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Denmark’s Foreign Minister urges EU action against "Israel" over the war on Gaza, including suspending trade ties and sanctioning far-right ministers, amid deep divisions within the bloc.
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European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, right, speaks with Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen during a round table meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025 (AP)
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called for more concrete actions against "Israel" by the European Union during a meeting in Denmark to push for measures against the occupation in response to its actions in Gaza.
Rasmussen, whose country currently holds the EU’s presidency, stated the bloc must turn words into action, declaring Copenhagen's readiness to suspend trade ties with "Israel" and sanction far-right Israeli ministers.
“We are witnessing the most catastrophic humanitarian catastrophe. Israel must change its course. We should find common ground. I am not revealing a secret by saying we must change words into sanctions. Denmark is ready to suspend the trade chapter in the association agreement and put sanctions on the [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government and some ministers in his government," he stated.
EU foreign policy chief, European commissioner, Spanish FM
, On Saturday, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, admitted she was “not optimistic” that the bloc would be able to impose sanctions on "Israel" over the war on Gaza, citing the deep and persistent divisions among member states.
While gathered in Denmark, EU foreign ministers prepared to debate a proposal for suspending funding to Israeli start-ups as a first punitive step, but the bloc, having failed to secure the required majority for this initial measure, finds itself unable to advance toward any more stringent actions against "Israel".
“I’m not very optimistic, and today we are definitely not going to adopt decisions,” Kallas said to reporters prior to the meeting, noting, “It sends a signal that we are divided.”
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that the EU is doing “too little too late” and “doing nothing … hadn’t achieved anything” when it came to the situation in Gaza. He said he wanted to raise pressure on "Israel" during the discussions in Copenhagen.
On her part, Hadja Lahbib, the European Commissioner responsible for crisis management and EU humanitarian aid, stated that “it is time for the EU to find a unified voice on Gaza.”
Speaking to reporters in Brussels this week, she did not specify which action she believed was necessary but emphasised her desire for increased pressure on "Israel".
“What is happening there is haunting me and should haunt all of us,” she said of Gaza.
“Because this is a tragedy. And we will be judged by history.”
EU civil servants grow furious with EU position on 'Israel'
On August 12, Politico reported that EU civil servants in Brussels are increasingly clashing with the European Commission as tensions rise over their demands to publicly challenge the bloc's position on "Israel", in an internal dispute that has intensified recently as staff push back against restrictions on their freedom to demonstrate.
An official, who requested to be identified only as Ramona due to concerns over professional consequences, told Politico that EU institutions have effectively forced employees into a position of "complicity", breached their "moral and legal obligations," stifled conscientious dissent, and postponed substantive action.
The EU’s diplomatic arm has accused "Israel" of breaching its human rights obligations under their trade agreement and has suggested suspending favorable trade terms, along with excluding the entity from the Horizon research program, yet European leaders remain divided on taking action, a situation that fuels criticism that Brussels is neglecting its own treaty commitments.
