The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, said yesterday that he has asked the Israeli Government for explanations for the expulsion of BNG MEP Ana Miranda.
During his appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress of Deputies, Albares expressed his complete rejection of the decision of the Israeli authorities, who yesterday denied entry to Ana Miranda, who was part of a European Parliament delegation visiting the Palestinian territories.
The minister, who was responding to a question from the BNG deputy Néstor Rego about what had happened, said that he had conveyed this rejection to the Israeli authorities, to whom he asked for explanations. He added that, as soon as the Ministry became aware of the facts, a member of his office immediately contacted the MEP.
“We have done everything in our power,” said Albares, regretting the speed with which the expulsion took place and specifying that his department is in contact with the European Parliament to coordinate the response.
According to the BNG in a statement, after being detained at the border control at Tel Aviv airport for more than six hours, Ana Miranda was informed of her expulsion on a flight to Madrid.
The Galician MEP links the measure to her participation in the international humanitarian support flotilla to Gaza in 2015. “A diplomatic affront, disrespect for the European Parliament and penalisation for having participated in the 2015 International Flotilla,” she said on her Twitter account.
Last week, Israel denied permission for IU MEP Manu Pineda to travel, the second time in less than a year that this has happened. Last May the same thing happened and then the whole delegation decided to cancel the trip, but this time the rest of the members had gone ahead with the plan to visit the Palestinian territories.
