EU comments on Cyprus visit by controversial Israeli minister

EU member state officials are free to meet with anyone they think necessary bilaterally, European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said on Wednesday, commenting on the visit of the highly controversial Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir to Cyprus.

But he added they should support the EU’s positions.

Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, met with Justice Minister Anna Procopiou during his visit, which also coincided with fires in the Limassol area.

Israel had sent aircraft to help battle the blaze that started last week and ended on Wednesday, burning nine square kilometres.

“Member states’ officials are free to meet with anyone they deem necessary for bilateral relations and/or cooperation, while, at the same time, delivering the positions of the European Union,” Stano said in a written statement to the Cyprus News Agency.

Ben-Gvir is seen as a controversial personality in Israel, as well as in the EU, due to his extreme statements and behaviour.

Last May, the EU’s mission to Israel had announced that it was cancelling an event for Europe Day in Tel Aviv, because Ben-Gvir had said he would attend and give a speech.

In a statement on May 8, the EU mission to Israel had stated that “we do not want to offer a platform to someone whose views contradict the values the European Union stands for.”

Stano had said at the time that the commission was “consulting internally and also with our member states on how to handle the situation”, stressing that as the EU “we don’t endorse the political views of Ben-Gvir.”