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Danish FM Calls For Economic Sanctions Against Israel
WASHINGTON, March 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - In a newspaper interview published Tuesday, Danish Foreign Minister Mogens Lykketoft blasted Israel saying that the EU should institute economic sanctions against the state because of its settlement policy.
"Israelis establishment of new settlements in the occupied territories and expansion of existing settlements is one of the most serious barriers to peace in the Middle East," said Lykketoft to the Berlingkse Tidende newspaper, adding that, "Israel's new settlement activity is in breach of the Geneva conventions and will only lead to a further escalation of violence."
According to the paper, Lykketof's hardline stems from a report to be published by the U.N. Human Rights Commission (UNHCR), which proposes setting up an "international mechanism" to "oversee the situation in the territories and determine how to protect Palestinian human rights."
The report said that Lykketoft intends to propose to his EU colleagues that Israel's actions should have consequences in its trade relations with the EU.
One source in Jerusalem said that Lykketoft has a record of hostile statements against Israel.
Last month, Lykketoft made similar comments on Denmark's TV 2.
"This insoluble and tragic conflict is locked up by exactly the settlement policy. The illegal settlements in occupied territories which Israel has implemented and which Sharon and his followers have been behind, make it very difficult to give the Palestinians the possibility of creating their own state."
In response, Zalman Shoval, former ambassador to the U.S. and a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said, "It is a sad day for Denmark when its foreign minister finds fit to besmirch the proud and courageous record of the Danish people with regards to the Jewish people in World War II - when he proposes to punish the State of Israel, which is defending itself against daily Palestinian acts of bloodshed and murder."
An EU official announced that Lykketoft's statements did not reflect the official position of the EU.
"When any foreign minister speaks, and it is not the foreign minister of the country holding the rotating EU presidency, he is reflecting the policies of his own government only," said the official.
The same official also said that EU heads of state issued a statement early this week in Stockholm on Mideast policy without any mention of economic sanctions against Israel or downgrading its association with the EU.
The statement, however, confirmed the "union's determination to make its contribution to peace, stability, and future prosperity in the Middle East.
"As an immediate step, in order to avoid economic and institutional collapse in the Palestinian territories, it calls on other international donors urgently to join the EU in pledging funding in support of the Palestinian budget."
At the same time, the statement called on Israel to lift closures "and pay overdue revenues" owed to the Palestinian Authority in signed agreements in Oslo in 1993 and that the Palestinians "must adopt without delay an austerity budget and take effective measures against corruption and towards more democratic transparency."
The statement also said that the EU will also work with the U.S. and other international actors in "seeking a way forward which will see an end to the violence and the resumption of negotiations for an agreement within the framework of U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338."
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