EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says she is “not optimistic” the bloc would take action against Israel over the war in Gaza due to splits between member states.
Foreign ministers meeting in Denmark will discuss a proposal to suspend EU funding to Israeli start-ups as initial punishment for the situation in Gaza.
But the bloc has so far failed to garner the majority needed to take that step — let alone move ahead with more forceful measures against Israel.
“I’m not very optimistic, and today we are definitely not going to adopt decisions,” Kallas tells journalists at the start of the Denmark meeting.
“It sends a signal that we are divided.”
Splits within the European Union between countries backing Israel and those favoring the Palestinians have seen the 27-nation bloc often left hamstrung in the face of the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza amid the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
A string of EU countries are pushing for more far-reaching punishment for Israel, but have been frustrated.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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