Sweden pushes EU for tougher measures against products from illegal Israeli settlements

Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa said on Friday that Sweden is pushing the European Union to adopt tougher measures against products originating from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking at the doorsteps of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Trade, Dousa said a joint Swedish-French initiative launched several weeks ago has already shifted discussions within the EU.

“It has already changed the dynamics, and we can see that the Swedish-French initiative we launched a couple of weeks ago is gaining broader support. More and more countries have had enough,” Dousa said.

The comments came in response to a question about whether a widely circulated video involving Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir could affect EU discussions on trade measures linked to Israeli settlements.

Dousa said Sweden has already helped advance sanctions against occupiers and illegal settler organizations but that stronger economic measures are now required.

“We now need to move partly toward sanctions against settlers and settler organizations,” he said.

The Swedish minister stressed that products originating from the occupied Palestinian territories should not continue entering the EU market under favorable trade conditions.

“It cannot be the case that products from occupied land, where ordinary people’s land has been stolen, on the West Bank, can enter the EU almost duty-free,” he said.

According to Dousa, proposals under discussion include export licensing requirements and significantly higher tariffs on products from settlements.

“For example, requiring export licenses or significantly increased tariffs,” he said. “The important thing is that we stop the inflow of products into the EU from occupied land where someone else’s land has been stolen.”

Dousa also said support for the initiative was expanding among EU member states, including the Netherlands.

“And when the world’s attention is on other geographic areas, the war in Iran, for example, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, it is important not to forget all the terrible things happening in the West Bank right now,” he said.