EU requests US to reverse visa ban on Palestine officials News
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EU requests US to reverse visa ban on Palestine officials

The European Union (EU) urged the US government on Saturday to reverse its decision to block members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) from obtaining visas.

Kaja Kallas, the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, remarked during a ministers’ meeting in Copenhagen: “In light of the existing agreements between the UN and its host state, we all urge for this decision to be reconsidered, considering the international law.”

The request comes ahead of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly later this month at the UN headquarters in New York. France, an EU member state and permanent member of the UN Security Council, announced in July that it will recognize Palestine as a state at the upcoming meeting.

The EU announcement follows a US State Department statement on Friday claiming that:

[The department] is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly … [I]t is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace.

The DOS provided that “the PA mission to the UN will receive waivers per the UN Headquarters Agreement.” However, an official clarified on Saturday that the ban would apply to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, along with 80 other officials. Abbas’ office said that the decision was in “clear contradiction to international law and the UN Headquarters Agreement.”

The UN Headquarters Agreement established the seat of the UN in New York in 1947. Section 11 of the agreement states that “authorities of the United States shall not impose any impediments to transit” on “persons invited to the headquarters district by the United Nations.” Section 13 extends the provision to visas, which “shall be granted without charge and as promptly as possible.”

The US refused to issue a visa to Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO, in 1988. This resulted in Geneva becoming the meeting ground for issues concerning Palestine. Palestine is currently a “permanent observer state” at the UN. Out of 193 member states, 147 recognize Palestinian statehood.

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