Student-led protests will sweep across more than 21 European Union cities on Friday as demonstrators demand the immediate suspension of Israel’s participation in the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.
The coordinated action targets what organisers describe as substantial EU funding flowing to Israeli entities, including defence companies and the Ministry of Defence itself.
Israeli institutions have received over €2.6 billion in EU research funding since 2007, according to recent investigations cited by protesters.
Organisers claim the funding reaches entities complicit in what they call genocide in Gaza and human rights violations against Palestinians in occupied territories, with technologies later used for military purposes.
Defence contractors received EU grants
Israeli entities received €1.3 billion from the Horizon 2020 programme between 2014 and 2020, and a further €1.1 billion from Horizon Europe since 2021, according to figures cited by organisers.
Grants have been awarded to state-owned defence contractors, including Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, described as a major drone supplier to the Israeli military. Israel’s Ministry of Defence has directly received EU grant money, protesters say.
Cyprus protest ahead of EU presidency
The Cyprus demonstration carries particular significance as the country prepares to assume the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2026.
The pan-European day of action will feature rallies at EU institutions, government buildings and public squares across the bloc.
Organisers are calling on the European Union to uphold its stated commitment to human rights and international law by suspending all research and innovation funding to Israeli institutions they describe as involved in genocide, apartheid and occupation of Palestine.
In Nicosia, protesters will gather at 6:30pm at the European Commission in Cyprus at Lordou Vyronos 30.
The action is backed by multiple organisations including AFOA, BDS Cyprus, Cyprus Palestine Solidarity Action, Cyprus Peace Council, Edon, Far Right Watch, Genocide-Free Cyprus, Global Movement to Gaza Cyprus, Proodeftiki and United for Palestine Cyprus.