Albares defends suspending the EU Agreement with Israel: “It is the time for actions and we are considering all options”

Madrid – The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has once again denounced this Thursday the “unbearable” situation in Gaza and has advocated for the suspension of the EU Association Agreement with Israel, insisting that “the time for words” has passed and now is the time for action.

This was stated in remarks to the press in Washington after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with whom he discussed, as he himself indicated, the conflict in Gaza and the need for Israel to end the blockade that prevents humanitarian aid from entering.

“We must do everything in our power to break the blockade, so that humanitarian aid reaches the Gazan population” and also, he added, for the United Nations to be responsible for distributing it “in a neutral manner.” “It cannot be Israel that decides who receives the food, when they receive it, how,” he emphasized.

In this context, he recalled that Spain supported this Tuesday in the EU Foreign Affairs Council the need to review the Association Agreement with Israel based on Article 2 regarding respect for Human Rights and, in fact, along with Slovenia, Ireland, and Luxembourg, sent a letter in this regard to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas.

“This association agreement must be suspended while this circumstance lasts,” Albares stated, arguing, as he did in Brussels, that “the time for words, requests, and statements is behind us.” “It is the time for actions and we are considering all options,” he assured.

Protest over the incident with a delegation of diplomats

On another note, he also referred to the “completely unacceptable act” that occurred the day before when Israeli soldiers fired shots while a delegation of diplomats, including a Spaniard and other Europeans, was visiting the Palestinian city of Jenin in the West Bank, at the invitation of the Palestinian Authority.

“This morning, the chargé d’affaires of the Israeli Embassy was summoned, and we conveyed our condemnation and our strong rejection,” he noted, also taking the opportunity to express his “support and solidarity” with the diplomatic staff of the General Consulate in Jerusalem, which is responsible for relations with the Palestinian Authority.

Furthermore, he specified that a request was made to the chargé d’affaires — Israel has not had an ambassador for a year since Rodica Radian-Gordon was called for consultations over the recognition of Palestine — “for a transparent investigation and accountability for those shots that are absolutely unacceptable and violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

“I conveyed both my condolences and my strong condemnation for those murders,” he stated. “Certainly, antisemitism and barbarism, that is what happened yesterday here in Washington, has our full condemnation,” he emphasized.

Albares will host this Sunday in Madrid the ‘Madrid + Ministerial Meeting for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution’ which is expected to be attended by several European countries, mainly those that, like Spain, have recognized the Palestinian state, such as Ireland, Slovenia, and Malta, as well as Arab countries.

With this meeting, as explained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the aim is to promote “dialogue among international community actors to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and to advance towards a political solution to the conflict by materializing the two-state solution, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.” (May 22)