Spain defends before the MED9 the arms embargo on Israel and the review of the Association Agreement

Eduardo González The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, participated this Friday in Cyprus in the Summit of the MED9 Group, in which he called on the international community to suspend the shipment of arms to Israel and demanded a review of the Association Agreement between this country and the European Union. On the sidelines of the meeting, the leaders of Spain, France and Italy have signed a joint statement to express their indignation at Israel's attacks against the UN mission in Lebanon. During the MED9 meeting, which brings together the heads of state and government of Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia and Croatia, as well as the president of the European Commission, the leaders have addressed strategic issues for the region, such as competitiveness, energy interconnections, strategic partnerships between countries and migration, a challenge that the nine countries are at the forefront of. The Summit was attended by King Abdullah II of Jordan, who was invited to address the situation in the Middle East, one of the central themes of the day. Precisely, the President of the Government reiterated during his speech his "strong condemnation" of the latest attacks by Israel on UNIFIL. “What has happened at the UNIFIL headquarters in Lebanon is absolutely unacceptable, it is totally reprehensible and we demand the cessation of all types of violence that, unfortunately, the blue helmets are suffering,” he declared. Along these lines, the leaders of Spain, France, Emmanuel Macro, and Italy, Giorgia Meloni, signed a joint statement to express their indignation at these events and to reiterate a call for an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of Resolution 1701 of the United Nations Security Council. Likewise, the three leaders reiterated the need to protect the blue helmets and the “continuous and indispensable commitment” of the UNIFIL troops in the current context. Pedro Sánchez recalled that there are already more than 40,000 fatalities in Gaza and Lebanon and nearly two million displaced people in Gaza and almost one million in Lebanon and expressed his concern about “the silence and inaction” of the international community in the face of the serious situation in the Middle East. The President of the Government also argued that the European Union must clearly demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, the cessation of violence in the West Bank and the release of all hostages held by Hamas terrorists and, in this context, he asked the European Commission to assess whether international law and human rights are being respected, an essential content of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel. “If it is not respected, there is only one way: to review said agreement,” he warned. Likewise, Sánchez called on the international community to suspend the shipment of weapons to Israel and assured that Spain has not sold weapons to Israel since the beginning of the war. “Without weapons, there is no war,” he warned. During his day in Paphos, the President of the Government held a meeting with the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, with whom he discussed the priorities of the European Union for the next institutional cycle that is opening. Both leaders have exchanged points of view on migration and Sánchez expressed his concern about the current discourse on issues such as migration and security and recalled his intention to ask the European Commission to accelerate the implementation of the Migration and Asylum Pact, promoted under the Spanish presidency last year.

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