War in the Middle East: Spain will ask the European Union to break its association agreement with

The pressure is mounting on Brussels. Spain will ask the European Union to terminate its association agreement with Israel, stating that the Israeli government “violates international law,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Sunday, April 19, during a meeting in Andalusia. “This Tuesday, the Spanish government will submit a proposal to Europe” to end this agreement, which has been in effect since 2000 and includes a clause linking the relationship to respect for human rights, he said. According to the Socialist Prime Minister, a country “that violates international law […] cannot be a partner of the European Union.”

Spain first questioned this association agreement with Israel in February 2024, when Pedro Sanchez and the then Irish Prime Minister jointly wrote to the European Commission. Since then, Pedro Sanchez has gradually hardened his stance on this issue, particularly with the war in Lebanon. On Friday, Ireland, Slovenia, and Spain sent a letter requesting that “the EU-Israel association agreement be examined at the next meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council.”