Top EU diplomat says banning trade from Israeli settlements would be ‘principled stance’

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says a decision from her bloc to ban trade with Israeli settlements would be the principled stance.

Kallas argues in an interview with The Irish Times that the EU should treat the settlements the same way it has treated Ukraine’s Crimea since it was occupied by Russia.

“The question is what do we do about this? If we take the example when Crimea was occupied, then it was very clear, it’s illegal, we don’t recognize this, which means that we stop the trade with any products that come from Crimea,” Kallas says.

“We should have the same principled stance – you know this is illegal, everybody agrees – so we should stop trading with Occupied [Palestinian] Territories,” she says.

Kallas acknowledges that adopting a ban on imports of goods from the settlements would require a sizable majority of member states, and it’s unclear whether such support exists, given potential opposition from Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany.

“We have leverage when we are able to take decisions… If it is clear that we are divided, then also you know we are not taken seriously,” Kallas says.