Slovenia becomes the first EU country to ban arms trade with Israel
Kyiv • UNN
Slovenia has banned the import, export, and transit of weapons to and from Israel, becoming the first EU country to introduce such restrictions. This decision has symbolic significance due to the almost zero volume of arms trade between the countries.
Slovenia has banned the import, export, and transit of weapons to and from Israel. It has become the first European Union country to introduce such restrictions to increase pressure on the Israeli government over the war in the Gaza Strip. This was reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.
Details
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob, announcing the decision, stated that Palestinians "are dying because they are systematically denied humanitarian aid." According to him, Israel's actions constitute a serious violation of international law.
As the publication noted, this is not the first time Slovenia has taken measures against Israel ahead of other European Union countries, trying to force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop hostilities in the Middle East.
Since the volume of arms trade between Slovenia and Israel is almost zero, the decision is primarily symbolic. At the same time, as the authors note, it could become much more tangible for Israel if similar restrictions were introduced by other European countries. In particular, Germany, Italy, and Great Britain have significant defense contracts with Israel.
"It is the duty of every responsible state to act, even if it means taking a step ahead of others," said Golob, who has repeatedly called for specific pan-European measures against Israel.
According to him, these efforts are hampered by "internal disagreements and disunity" on this issue in Brussels.
The publication noted that last month, Slovenia was the first among EU countries to declare two Israeli politicians persona non grata – Israel's Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich. The Netherlands later joined this step.
Addition
Earlier, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the UK would recognize a Palestinian state in September if Israel did not take significant steps to end the "terrible situation" in the Gaza Strip.
Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the statement by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the future recognition of Palestine as a state. Netanyahu believes that Starmer's actions encourage Hamas terrorism.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as an independent state in September of this year at the UN General Assembly.