In a letter to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, on Tuesday 10 June, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard urged the EU Council “to urgently decide on targeted sanctions against Israeli ministers who promoted illegal settlement activities and actively work against a negotiated two-states solutions, and additional sanctions against extremist settlers”.
Highlighting the “catastrophic” and “intolerable” situation in Gaza and the West Bank, with “the expansion of illegal settlements and settler violence”, the Minister felt that, in addition to examining the EU-Israel Association Agreement, other options should be considered.
The UK, Canada, Norway and Australia have announced measures against the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich. At the end of August 2024, the former High Representative, Josep Borrell, called for sanctions against these two ministers (see EUROPE 13471/2).
See the letter from Sweden: https://aeur.eu/f/hb3 (original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)