Europe considers support mission to monitor Palestinian elections

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot plans to request the European Union to deploy a mission for monitoring the upcoming Palestinian elections in November, marking the first such elections in two decades. Speaking at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Wicklow, Ireland, Barrot emphasized the significance of these elections in expressing self-determination and legitimacy for the international community.

He assured that no technical or logistical obstacles would prevent the elections from taking place, scheduled for November 28 for legislative polls and early next year for presidential ones.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has pledged to organize these elections as part of a deal involving recognition of Palestinian statehood by several countries, including France and the United Kingdom. Abbas, 90, is yet to confirm his participation in the elections. Despite EU's status as the PA's most significant financial donor, many European governments view its leadership as corrupt and ineffective, pushing for the elections to be held.

Barrot intends to appoint Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign affairs and security policy chief, to lead an open mission to Palestinian territories, not limited to EU countries. He noted that other countries are also keen on these elections taking place, enabling necessary arrangements to ensure their timely conduct. Abbas's current mandate expired in 2009, and since then, he has ruled by decree, with elections for 2021 postponed due to logistical issues in East Jerusalem, under Israeli occupation since 1967.

Hamas won the previous Palestinian elections in 2006, defeating Abbas's Fatah party. Meanwhile, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares pledged to persist in efforts to convince EU counterparts to impose sanctions on Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Albares criticized their anti-Palestinian rhetoric and urged them to behave like ministers of democratic governments.

Efforts to implement an EU-wide ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements have failed due to opposition from countries like Germany. Barrot reiterated his commitment to raise this issue, emphasizing that the EU cannot accept products from illegal settlements entering EU territory illegally.