Europe

Europe

EU ministers split over Gaza in Copenhagen meeting

30 August 2025 15:16 (UTC +04:00)

European Union foreign ministers on Saturday were deeply split over the war in Gaza, with some calling for the EU to apply strong economic pressure on Israel while others made clear they were unwilling to go that far, APA reports citing Reuters.

"We are divided about this issue," Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said as she arrived for a meeting with the ministers in the Danish capital Copenhagen.

"If you don't have a unified voice ... on this topic, we don't have a voice on the global scene. So that's definitely very problematic," she said.

Kallas said she was "not very optimistic" that ministers could agree even on a proposal she described as lenient - as it is less severe than other options - to curb Israeli access to an EU research-funding programme.

The war - launched in response to the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas - has brought to the surface deeply rooted differences among the EU's 27 countries on the Middle East.

Many EU governments have criticised Israel's conduct of the war, particularly over deaths of civilians and restrictions on humanitarian aid. But they have been unable to agree on impactful EU political or economic action.

Countries, including Ireland, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands, have called for the suspension of an EU free trade pact with Israel. But traditional allies of Israel, such as Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic, have rejected such steps.

"If the EU does not act as a collective now and take sanctions against Israel, whenever will it? What more could it possibly take? Children are starving," said Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris.