Sweden’s prime minister said on Thursday that his country “demands that the E.U. freeze the trade component of the Association Agreement with Israel “as soon as possible.”
Ulf Kristersson said this on X amid debate within the European Union on suspending Israel from the agreement that regulates trade between the Jewish state and the bloc. The Netherlands has led the move to change the Association Agreement to punish Israel for suffering in the Gaza Strip resulting from the war against Hamas terrorists.
The change would require a vote by E.U. members, where Israel has supporters that are thought to oppose a downgrade, including Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Baltic States.
Israel has not met “the most basic obligations and agreed-upon commitments regarding humanitarian aid,” Kristersson wrote. “At the same time, pressure on Hamas must increase so that the hostages are released immediately and unconditionally,” he added.
David Lega, a special adviser for Scandinavia to the Brussels-based European Jewish Association and a former European Parliament lawmaker from Sweden, rejected Kristersson’s call.
“The government parties need to seriously consider which forces are benefited and harmed by their empty rhetoric,” Lega wrote on X.
The Swedish government, Lega said, “mentions that Hamas must be pressured to release hostages but does not specify with a single word how this is to be achieved. No demands for a ceasefire from Hamas’s side. No measures against an organization that has violated all fundamental human norms and rights, both against Israel and its own population. The government’s stance is therefore an empty gesture,” he said.
On Monday, the European Commission proposed to partially suspend Israel’s participation to Horizon Europe—Brussels’ flagship financial program for research and innovation, with a budget of €95.5 billion (around $109 billion). On Tuesday, Germany and Italy blocked the effort to exclude Israel from the innovation fund.
