Ljubljana (TDI): Slovenia has formally become the first member country of the European Union to impose an embargo on arms to Israel, declaring a total prohibition on the importation, exportation, and transit of arms to and from Israel.Â
The government’s move, which came on July 31, is a new level of European pressure on Israel’s Gaza actions. The action was taken by the Slovenian government as a moral reaction to continuing humanitarian suffering in Palestine.
Slovenia’s left-wing coalition government has made a series of pro-Palestinian moves during the war, including a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice earlier this year and the unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood in June.
Slovenia’s statement was coordinated with increasing demands from other EU nations to reconsider their ties with Israel. Sweden and the Netherlands demanded that the EU to suspend the trade Association Agreement with Israel.Â
But an Israeli government official opposed the gesture and called it completely meaningless, and said that, “There is no Slovenian defense expenditure. We do not purchase even a pen from them. They simply decided on an embargo for the sake of the press, because they can.”
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Sweden and the Netherlands have also urged the European Union to halt the trade component of the Association Agreement with Israel.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Israel was “not living up to its most basic obligations” and called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “utterly deplorable.”
In addition, Dutch Foreign Minister Casper Veldkamp praised Sweden’s statement and called for economic pressure. In the meantime, the European Commission is said to be considering suspending Israel from the €110 billion Horizon research program.
Germany has resisted such actions; however, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadepuhl, on his visit to Jerusalem on August 1, expressed his concern at Israel’s increasing isolation. “If there is one nation that is obligated to prevent this, then in my view it is Germany,” he said.
Israel’s war on Gaza has left massive devastation, with over 62,000 Palestinians killed and more than 1.9 million Palestinians, 90% of Gaza’s population, displaced since the war began last year.
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