Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda is sceptical about the proposal from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to sanction some Israeli ministers for their “hate messages” against Palestinians.
“Incitement to hatred is evil, no matter from which side it comes,” Nauseda told reporters on Monday in Trakai. “However, I have serious doubts about Mr Borrell’s initiative, because it seems to me that he himself does not believe in its success, given that we have very different [EU member] states with differing views on this conflict at the EU table. And sometimes these views are diametrically opposed.”
During last week’s informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Borrell called for sanctions against some Israeli ministers who had made statements that go “clearly against international law and is an incitation to commit war crimes”. He did not specify which ministers he had in mind.
According to diplomats, however, his proposal targets Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Smotrich sparked international outrage when he suggested it would be justified to starve two million Gazans in order to force Hamas to free Israeli captives in the Palestinian territory.
Ben Gvir is criticised for a string of inflammatory actions and comments.
Observers say that Borrell’s proposal for sanctions has little chance of success, given that EU member states have very different views on Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic are among the EU countries that staunchly defend what they call Israel’s “right to self-defence” and block any attempts to take tough measures against the Israeli government.
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