BRUSSELS — The EU is poised to approve sanctions against so-called violent Israeli settlers, after Hungary’s new government signaled it would no longer block the measure, top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Monday ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.
As first reported in Playbook, ministers are expected to reach a political agreement on the long-stalled sanctions, which former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had repeatedly blocked.
But a breakthrough now appears possible after Péter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister last Saturday. Magyar has signaled he would not stand in the way of broadly supported sanction packages.
“I expect political agreement on the sanctions of violent settlers,” Kallas said ahead of the meeting. “I really do hope that we have a political agreement regarding the violent settler sanctions that has been on the table for quite some time.”
“There are proposals put forward by the member states,” she added. “Let’s see whether member states are willing to move there.”
Kallas acknowledged that broader measures against Israel still lack support inside the bloc.
“Currently, when we tested this on Friday with the ambassadors, it seems that we do not have the necessary majority to pass these measures,” she said, referring to a French-Swedish proposal targeting trade with West Bank settlements. “But really, what more can we do?”
Several ministers arriving in Brussels echoed Kallas’ frustration at the EU’s inability to move faster.
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said that “there is no measure that we are able to take, simply because there are always countries that are hesitant.” He added: “Some people tell us that history means we are eternally indebted to Israel, but that does not excuse this.”
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said she also looked forward to “sanctioning violent settlers on the West Bank,” arguing that developments “both in Gaza and the West Bank have been quite worrying over past months.”
Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen pushed for tougher steps. “We’re working on a full ban on products from the illegal settlements,” he said, adding that ministers would now test “where majorities could be” for further measures, including tariffs.
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