The Secretary of State for European Affairs, Inês Domingos, stated that the Government considers it “important to preserve political dialogue” and recalled that “there is a transition at the level of the EU executive.”
The Portuguese Government said this Monday that it was against the proposal of the head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, to suspend political dialogue with Israel in the face of the attacks in Gaza, stressing that “it is not the ideal time ”.
The position of the Portuguese executive was conveyed in Brussels by the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Inês Domingos, who argued with “compelling reasons”, since Lisbon considers that the dialogue “is positive”but also with “reasons to moment“, in a moment “in which there is a transition at the level of the EU executive.”
“At this moment we consider (…) that it is important to preserve political dialogue,” he stated.
In statements to Portuguese journalists in Brussels at the end of a Foreign Affairs Council, in which Josep Borrell unsuccessfully presented this proposal to suspend the political dialogue with Tel Aviv, the official stressed that, for the moment, “this is the position “, recalling that Portugal, “in various circumstances in which it does not agree with governments and government actions, continues to maintain political dialogue”, that is, maintaining diplomatic representation in these countries.
“With respect to the Middle East, Portugal has had a balanced position that, if on the one hand, has condemned some actions of the Israeli government (…), it is also true (…) maintains a coherent position by considering that it is always positive to maintain the political dialogue, especially because political dialogue also allows us to try to influence the position of all the parties involved,” said Inês Domingos.
This Monday, upon arrival at the meeting in the Belgian capital, the head of European diplomacy defended greater pressure on Israel, through a proposal to suspend political dialogue with Tel Avivto end the war with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as he sees “no chance of that happening.”
Josep Borrell stressed that he had “no more words” to describe the war in Gaza, when according to the United Nations (UN) there have already been around 44,000 deaths, 70% of which were women or children, and the Most of the infrastructure of the Palestinian territory was destroyed.
This Monday, the EU foreign ministers debated the proposal of the head of European diplomacy to suspend political dialogue with Israel, in accordance with the provisions of the association agreement on human rights, but as it is a divisive issue among the 27 member states, the bloc’s members were unable to reach a consensus.
However, the head of community diplomacy kept his promise to take this matter to the last meeting of Foreign Ministers chaired by him, before handing over the testimony to the Estonian Kaja Kallas.
According to reports from independent international organizations, there is reason to believe that Israel is violating human rights and international humanitarian law in its offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.
The political dialogue between the EU and Israel is planned within the framework of the partnership between Brussels and Tel Aviv.
The proposal to suspend political dialogue does not mean, however, the suspension of the association agreement or the Association Council with the country.
The war launched by Israel against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, following the terrorist attack by this organization on October 7, 2023 in the south of Israeli territory, continues to threaten to spread to the entire Middle East region, having already caused at least 43,736 deaths. (almost 2% of the enclave’s population), including more than 17,000 minors and 103,370 injured, in addition to more than 10,000 missing, according to the UN.
Source: Observadora
