The European Union (EU) voiced strong opposition on Friday to the United States’ decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories who is notorious for her anti-Israel statements.
"We deeply regret the decision to impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese," said EU spokesperson Anouar El Anouni during a daily briefing in Brussels, as quoted by Reuters.
He emphasized that the EU "strongly supports the United Nations human rights system."
Albanese was sanctioned earlier this week by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. According to Rubio, the decision was based on actions that contributed to "illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis" at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The UN official recently released a report accusing over 60 companies—including several American firms—of aiding Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and supporting IDF operations in Gaza.
The US move drew immediate condemnation from several international figures and bodies sympathetic to Albanese's work.
The UNHRC recently extended Albanese’s term as special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the “Palestinian territories” for an additional three years, despite her continued anti-Israel statements and actions.
Albanese’s anti-Israel bias was first exposed in 2022, in the form of antisemitic posts she made on social media, in which she claimed that the “Jewish lobby” controls the US.
At the time, Albanese rejected arguments that the comments about the “Jewish lobby” were antisemitic and claimed they were “mischaracterized”, but her anti-Israel bias has continued to be exposed since.
Her criticism of Israel has grown since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack in Israel. The attack, in which Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, was described by Albanese as an act that must be viewed in “context” and as a response to Israeli “aggression.”
She has also in recent months accused Israel of genocide, likened the Government of Israel to the “Third Reich,” and compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)
