'Not very optimistic' about agreement on Israel sanctions: EU foreign policy chief

LONDON

The EU’s foreign policy chief on Saturday expressed skepticism over reaching an agreement on sanctions on Israel.

Ahead of the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, Kaja Kallas told journalists: “Well, I'm not very optimistic, because even the option that we propose, which is quite a lenient one when it comes to their participation in the Horizon program, even there, we don't have qualified majority together."

There are some member states such as Ireland that call on EU to act now and takes “immediate and concrete measures” in response to Israel’s genocidal actions which are “in breach of its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.”

"We will, of course, discuss, there are a lot of proposals made so that those countries who haven't been supportive that they could come on board. But this is, I'm not very optimistic, and today we are definitely not going to adopt decisions," Kallas said.

Kallas also addressed the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“The situation in Gaza is going to be discussed today. And what more can we do as EU, we have made some proposals. We haven't, unfortunately, moved on those. The situation has not much improved. So this is still very problematic. And the news coming from Gaza, not very encouraging when it comes to the new war zone, or combat zone or the ideas that come from there."

Foreign ministers of EU member states are gathering in Copenhagen, Denmark for an informal meeting to discuss international issues.

The agenda includes military support to Ukraine, potential sanctions on Russia, using Russian frozen assets to contribute to Ukraine's reconstruction, as well as discussions on recent developments in the Middle East and Gaza.