Spain calls for the suspension of the entire EU-Israel Association Agreement, beyond the trade sanctions proposed by Brussels

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares warned on Tuesday that the Spanish government supports the suspension of the entire Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel. He noted the lack of progress on the proposal for a partial suspension announced last September by the European Commission for the trade pillar of the agreement, "which would only require a qualified majority, and even that has not been achieved." "Spain, along with Slovenia and Ireland, has requested that the suspension of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel be discussed and debated today based on Article 2, given that the European Union can only have a relationship with Israel based on respect for human rights," Albares stated in Luxembourg upon his arrival at the meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council (FAC). Spain has repeatedly requested the suspension of the Agreement, signed in Brussels in 1995 and in force since 2000, which constitutes the legal basis governing relations between Israel and the European Union. According to the Spanish government, Israel is violating Article 2 of the text, which states that “relations between the Parties, as well as all provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guide their domestic and international policy and constitute an essential element of this Agreement.” “We came very close on the previous occasion, and this time the situation is even more serious,” Albares warned reporters. “At that time, we requested a suspension based on Article 2 and the human rights violations solely in Gaza,” but “the situation remains and, moreover, is spreading,” he stated. “Violence is spreading in the West Bank, and what is happening right now in Lebanon is unbearable. There is a United Nations peacekeeping force there, and we are talking about a sovereign state with a government that was doing everything in its power to disarm Hezbollah, whose violence, of course, we also clearly condemn,” he continued. “Illegal settlements continue to expand, there is violence from Israeli settlers, and there are odious laws such as the law on the death penalty applied exclusively to Palestinians and passed by the Knesset. In Gaza, we see a systematic violation of the ceasefire and a second phase of that peace process whose status we no longer even know,” he insisted. “Therefore, we must tell Israel clearly that it has to change course, that war cannot be the only way for Israel to relate to its Middle Eastern neighbors, because Israel is also a Middle Eastern state,” he stated. “The question I am going to pose to all the other countries of the European Union is: What more has to happen for the European Union to be shaken by the way Israel conducts its relations with the other states of the Middle East? What more has to happen for the European Union to be shaken by Israel’s systematic violations of international law and human rights?” he continued. “Therefore, it is time to send a strong signal that we cannot maintain the relationship we have had until now with an Association Council if Israel does not change its policy,” he warned. “We must maintain the same position that we will maintain, and that Spain will support, regarding Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, or in a crisis like Sudan, which is a true humanitarian tragedy that the European Union must do everything possible to end,” he added. Full or partial suspension In September 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a proposal to suspend certain provisions of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, such as the chapter on establishing a free trade area between the two parties, with its tariff implications. For her part, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, noted this Monday that suspending the entire Agreement would require a unanimous position, while suspending the trade pillar would only require a qualified majority. In this regard, Albares recalled this Tuesday that, “since September there has been a proposal for a partial suspension that would only require a qualified majority, and even that hasn't been achieved.” “We are requesting the suspension of the entire Association Agreement, but there is a whole range of possibilities,” he admitted. “If someone wants to put another proposal on the table, why not?” he added. In any case, he cautioned. “Today, Europe’s credibility is at stake: if we are not able to send a clear and strong signal to Israel, which must change its policy, we will lose our credibility.” Lebanon Albares met in Luxembourg with the President of the Council of Ministers of the Lebanese Republic, Nawaf Salam, who participated as a guest in the EU Economic and Social Council meeting. During the meeting, as the minister reported on social media, Albares conveyed Spain's support for "its territorial integrity, a permanent ceasefire, and an end to the war." "We cannot accept the endless violence against Lebanon. The Lebanese people have the right to hope and a peaceful future," he added. During his address to the EU foreign ministers, Salam affirmed that his government, "through diplomatic channels, seeks to end the occupation, guarantee the release of our prisoners, and ensure the return of displaced persons to their homes and villages." He reiterated Beirut's commitment "to uphold the state's monopoly on weapons and to put an end to regional interference in its internal affairs." He also warned that Lebanon “needs its European partners now more than ever,” both to address the current “unprecedented humanitarian crisis” and to strengthen “support for the Lebanese Army and internal security forces,” because “the stronger the Lebanese Army, the weaker the illegitimate armed factions will be,” and to support “recovery and reconstruction efforts,” which represent “the cornerstone of long-term stability in Lebanon and the wider region.”

Related Content

The Pope lashes out in Tenerife against the mafias that turn “the suffering of others into a business”

Spain begins implementing the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum this Friday with a "rights-based approach"

PP passes a motion in the Senate to compel the Foreign Ministry to provide semi-annual reports on Ukraine

Pope Leo XIV affirms in the Canary Islands that migrants “are not numbers or files, they are people with families and homes they have left behind”

The Senate asks the Foreign Ministry to defend Spain's role in the independence of the United States