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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 impose 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 his Czech counterpart argued it would be ineffective. Meanwhile, countries like France have focused on additional sanctions, either against Hamas or against violent Jewish settlers.

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

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

On today’s agenda, we have a potentially tense discussion between EU ministers on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi addressing the European Parliament in Brussels and a European trial in Luxembourg against Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law.

Finally, Radio Schuman examines which European countries use plastic food 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.