WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
Slovenia declared two right-wing Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, persona non grata today, becoming the first European Union country to do so, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said.
The government accused Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Smotrich – both West Bank settlers – of making “genocidal statements” and inciting violence against Palestinians.
There was no immediate response from the Israeli government, which regularly rejects accusations of genocide in Gaza and says it was acting in self-defense after a deadly attack by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023.
Fajon said Slovenia decided to take the step after EU foreign ministers failed to reach an agreement on joint action against Israel over human rights abuses at a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.
“Today, the government adopted one of the first national measures, which is to declare two Israeli ministers... undesirable in the Republic of Slovenia,” Fajon told a press conference.
“This measure is the first of its kind in the European Union. We are treading a new path,” she added. Other measures are being prepared, but she did not go into detail.
The Slovenian government issued a statement saying that the ministers “publicly advocate the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the forced evictions of Palestinians and call for violence against the civilian Palestinian population.”
Last year, Slovenia recognized an independent Palestinian state.
In June, the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Canada imposed sanctions on two Israeli ministers, accusing them of inciting violence against Palestinians.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas's attack on southern Israel in 2023, in which, according to Israeli figures, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, while 251 people were taken to Gaza and held hostage.
