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France Pushes EU to Curb Trade With Israeli Settlements
(MENAFN) France is calling on the European Union to impose trade restrictions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced Saturday.
Speaking to media, Barrot revealed he had once again pressed fellow European nations this week to take concrete action on the matter.
"The settlements are illegal. It is not normal that the European Union can support this trade," he said.
Drawing a parallel to the EU's handling of Russia's occupation of Crimea, Barrot pointed to the bloc's 2014 decision to cut off imports from the peninsula as a precedent worth following.
"This is the same thing that we must do with the illegal settlements," he said, though he conceded that any such measure would first require consensus among EU member states.
The French minister also sharply criticized what he termed an "unprecedented explosion of violence" carried out by Israeli occupiers in the West Bank, warning that it undermines Palestinian dignity, jeopardizes Israel's own security, and erodes the already fragile prospects for a two-state solution.
Turning to Niger, Barrot dismissed claims of French involvement in last week's attempted mutiny as "pure fantasy," insisting that Paris had "neither the intention nor the means" to take part in such an operation.
"All of this is, as usual, a way of wrongly pointing the finger at a responsibility of France that simply does not exist," he said.
The mutiny, which erupted Aug. 29, saw rebel soldiers seize a major military airbase along with other key sites across Niamey before loyalist troops — backed by Russia's Africa Corps — managed to restore control. Niger's government fired back Friday, accusing France of fueling the unrest and backing the mutineers directly.
Speaking to media, Barrot revealed he had once again pressed fellow European nations this week to take concrete action on the matter.
"The settlements are illegal. It is not normal that the European Union can support this trade," he said.
Drawing a parallel to the EU's handling of Russia's occupation of Crimea, Barrot pointed to the bloc's 2014 decision to cut off imports from the peninsula as a precedent worth following.
"This is the same thing that we must do with the illegal settlements," he said, though he conceded that any such measure would first require consensus among EU member states.
The French minister also sharply criticized what he termed an "unprecedented explosion of violence" carried out by Israeli occupiers in the West Bank, warning that it undermines Palestinian dignity, jeopardizes Israel's own security, and erodes the already fragile prospects for a two-state solution.
Turning to Niger, Barrot dismissed claims of French involvement in last week's attempted mutiny as "pure fantasy," insisting that Paris had "neither the intention nor the means" to take part in such an operation.
"All of this is, as usual, a way of wrongly pointing the finger at a responsibility of France that simply does not exist," he said.
The mutiny, which erupted Aug. 29, saw rebel soldiers seize a major military airbase along with other key sites across Niamey before loyalist troops — backed by Russia's Africa Corps — managed to restore control. Niger's government fired back Friday, accusing France of fueling the unrest and backing the mutineers directly.
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