Akel member of the European Parliament Giorgos Georgiou on Tuesday demanded an end to what he described as “double standards” being taken by the European Union on Israel, compared to its stance on Russia, saying that the country is committing “genocide”.

“From Gaza and the West Bank to Lebanon, Iran, and the Gulf, people are once again paying the price of military escalation. Iran is being called upon to halt its bombardments, yet we seem unconcerned about who started and is perpetuating the war,” he told the day’s plenary session in Strasbourg.

He said that the EU has “provided €300 billion to Ukraine and imposed 20 rounds of sanctions on Russia”, but at the same time, it has “merely been asking Israel very politely to stop its expansion of settlements”.

“This is not simply about settlements; it is about criminal behaviour and genocide. You do not dare utter that word. I ask you, what is it that you do not understand? Europe must abandon its double standards,” he said.

On this front, he asked “why do you not suspend the association agreement with Israel?”, before stressing that “peace is not built through more bombing and hypocrisy”, but instead “built on justice, diplomacy, and respect for international law, for everyone, without exception”.

Cyprus had ‘procedural’ objection to ending association agreement

The Cypriot government was one of nine member states which objected to the idea of the EU suspending its association agreement with Israel when the matter was discussed by the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers in May, though Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said at the time that the objection was “procedural”.

“There was no question of a decision being taken by member states. On the contrary, the only competence which exists, which is of an exclusive nature, concerns [the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas], who ultimately took a decision, after first hearing the opinions and the views of the member states,” he said.

On Cyprus’ objections during those discussions, he said it had been raised “in terms of the procedure and the benefit which would arise from yesterday’s decision, given that at this particular time, we will take into account that any report which emerges will not be from EU personnel who are on the ground”.

He added that the reports received to inform the European Commission’s eventual decision at the end of the review “will have to pass through the college of commissioners and be adopted unanimously”, with all 27 commissioners, including Cypriot Costas Kadis and President Ursula von der Leyen required to vote in favour.

“Cyprus’ position is that we consider what is happening in terms of the humanitarian situation in Gaza to be tragic and unacceptable … There must be a change in Israel’s attitude and a large flow of aid on a large scale [into Gaza],” he said.

In the intervening months, the Cypriot government has maintained close ties with the State of Israel, with the country’s President Isaac Herzog having visited the island last week and described his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides as a “great friend”.