Particle.news
Download on the App Store
5 ARTICLES
·
11h ago

EU Ministers Split on Gaza Response as Copenhagen Talks End Without Action

Lack of consensus kept proposed curbs on Israeli access to EU innovation programs from advancing.

A Palestinian woman bakes bread as children sit next to her, while Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger and soaring malnutrition, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip January 24, 2024. REUTERS/Arafat Barbakh/File Photo
Image
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium July 16, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
Image

Overview

  • Kaja Kallas said she was not very optimistic and confirmed ministers would take no decisions at the Copenhagen meeting.
  • The European Commission’s plan to limit Israeli participation in EU research funding failed to secure the qualified majority required, and a push to suspend EU support for Israeli start-ups also stalled.
  • Host Lars Løkke Rasmussen urged the bloc to move from statements to sanctions, saying Denmark is ready to suspend the trade chapter with Israel and target members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
  • Support for punitive steps came from countries including France, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland, while Germany, Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic opposed such measures.
  • Political pressure has risen after an IPC finding of famine in Gaza, which Israel rejects, as the EU weighs action against a major trading partner with €42.6 billion in goods trade last year.