Is Borrell’s proposal to halt political dialogue with Israel a flop?

At the Foreign Affairs Council, EU member states showed little support for Josep Borrell’s proposal to suspend political dialogue with Israel.

Borrell aimed to force a clear stance on Israel’s actions and suggested banning imports from illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. However, suspending dialogue requires unanimous approval, highlighting existing divisions over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani dismissed the idea as nonsensical, while the Czech minister argued it would be ineffective. Meanwhile, countries like France focused on additional sanctions, either against Hamas or violent Jewish settlers.

Why did Borrell make this proposal, and what is the status of EU sanctions against Israel?

Today Radio Schuman answer these questions with Maria Luisa Frantappie, who heads the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa program at the Italian think tank Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI).

A quick look at the agenda today, with potential tense discussion among EU ministers over Ukraine, Ukrainian president Vlodomir Zelenskyy addressing the European Parliament in Brussels and a European court case in Luxembourg against Hungarian anti-LGBTIQ+ law.

In the last part of the show, Radio Schuman looks at which European country use plastic bags the most.

Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by Zacharia Vigneron and Georgios Leivaditis. Music by Alexandre Jas.