Slovenia has banned the import, export and transit of weapons to and from Israel, becoming the first European Union member state to do so in a bid to pressure the Israeli government over its war in Gaza.
Palestinians are “dying because humanitarian aid is systematically denied them,” Slovenian Premier Robert Golob said when announcing the move late Thursday, saying that Israel’s actions constitute serious violations of international law.
“It is the duty of every responsible state to take action, even if it means taking a step before others,” said Golob, who has repeatedly called for concrete EU-wide measures against Israel. Those efforts have faltered due to “internal disagreements and disunity,” on the issue in Brussels, he said.
As an American of Slovenian descent, who has never been to Slovenia, I am feeling some profoundly unearned pride at this.
Makes up for giving us Melania a little bit…
Slovenia was most progressive republic in Yugoslavia. Now is most progressive country in EU.
Germany will surely impose costs for this
The best cyclists and the most moral foreign policy
What? Spain stopped selling arms to Israel in 2023:
This year then cancelled arms orders from Israel that were already in progress.
Spain is still buying many Israeli weapons such as the PULS missile system and other stuff. Spain cancelled one rubber bullet contract for the police and I believe they are also banning transport of weapons to Israel in their ports. Spain is mostly doing optics and little in real action when it starts costing money.
Spain is still far better than most of Europe, but Slovenia is the first to take real action and implement a full restriction on arms.
That said, Canada also claimed to stop selling to Israel but did it in secret anyways. But for now Slovenia looks to be the leading country in Europe for human rights.
We’ll see what the ‘full restriction’ looks like under scrutiny. Spain was doing concrete things long before other countries even started mentioning recognizing Palestinian state and lost money on some contracts already (like the 9mm bullets contract, not rubber bullets). It also called what’s going on in Gaza a genocide and called for EU wide embargo on Israel. Just because Slovenia codified something in law doesn’t mean other countries are only doing optics. Unless Slovenia relies on Israeli weapons in a significant way trade ban is also just optics.
Canada is a dog and pony show for sure (Canadian here). Our new PM voted in to challenge all of this is just walking along like nothing is happening in the world. Fuck him too. We need revolution as well.
How big was their export to begin with, i wonder?
I believe they already cut off export. But import is the biggest deal here. Europe is the key customer of Israeli weapons. If this is cut off it all falls apart.
I suppose. Am from Sweden and we really only export weapons. If we actually stopped trade, that would be something.
Its easier to stop purchasing is what i mean.
March 2025 - Sweden Increases Arms Imports from Israel
Between 2015 and 2024, Sweden imported military equipment worth over 41 billion kronor (approximately 39 billion dollars), with Israeli arms accounting for nearly half a billion kronor.
Data from the Parliamentary Research Office reveals that in 2023 alone, Sweden imported weapons worth 8 million kronor from Israel, a figure that more than doubled to 18 million kronor in 2024.
Well, that source is a crock of nonsense. It’s the Swedish equivalent of breitbart.
We do however have contract with elbit regarding digitalization of our military.
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/sa-ser-sveriges-handel-ut-med-israel-kring-krigsmateriel
Good.
