Spain Slams U.S. Move to Revoke Palestinian Officials Visa

(MENAFN) Spain sharply criticized the United States on Saturday for revoking visas of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials, labeling the move “unacceptable” and calling on the European Union to champion Palestinian representation at the United Nations.

Speaking ahead of an informal EU foreign ministers meeting in Copenhagen, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares emphasized the importance of protecting Palestinian diplomatic rights.

“It is unacceptable that the Palestinian delegation or Mahmoud Abbas couldn't attend the UN General Assembly ... its protection, its immunity is worldwide and the European Union must be at the forefront of those that defend it. That should also be a clear message from today's meeting,” Albares stated firmly.

Using the announcement as a springboard, Albares reiterated Spain’s urgent demand for decisive EU engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, warning that mere rhetoric is now insufficient.

“The EU is doing too little, too late and doing nothing. Haven't achieved anything. So the time of declaration is really over. We have to move forward,” he said, outlining a Spanish-proposed strategy for concrete measures.

He stressed the EU’s conditional relationship with Israel: “The European Union can only relate to Israel through human rights, and if there is a massive violation, as the report of the Commission has clearly indicated, we must act. This is not anymore the time of war. It's the time for action, action to stop the war, action to break the blockade of famine from Israel to Gaza.”

Albares insisted that Spain’s plan includes practical steps that simply enforce existing European and international law: “Spain has proposed an action plan with things that, by the way, are nothing extraordinary. It's just fulfilling and complying with our own European legislation or international legislation, that's all and certainly, we are going to continue pushing forward.”

The Foreign Minister detailed four urgent priorities for the EU: “First to impose an arms embargo on selling weapons to Israel from the EU. Secondly, to enlarge the list of people that are being sanctioned, to anyone, absolutely anyone, that wants to spoil the two-state solution… Third, we have to back financially, very heavily, the Palestinian National Authority.”

“And fourth, we have to enforce and comply with all the rulings and all the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, for instance, stopping all trade with products coming from the illegal settlements, and also we propose the full suspension of that agreement into the EU and Israel,” he concluded.

This intervention underscores mounting tensions as Europe faces growing pressure to take a more active stance in the long-standing conflict.

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