Brussels, 08/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - Following the Unites States' decision to abandon seeking a freeze on Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and to seek other avenues for the relaunch of peace negotiations, the EU expressed its “regret” on Wednesday over Israel's refusal to accede to the request from the US and the Quartet (USA, EU, UN and Russia). High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton once again repeated, through her spokeswoman, who was quoted by press agencies, that the EU believes settlement building to be “illegal” and that it is “an obstacle to peace”. She went on to say that, as a matter of urgency, progress has to be made on the two-state solution. A meeting of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators is due to take place next week at the State Department in Washington.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on the EU and hopes that “the time will soon come when it will play a role along with the United States,” he said in Athens. The EU Council of Ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday, is expected to discuss a report from the heads of mission in Jerusalem which warns that the solution under which two states would co-exist side by side is in danger of losing all sense.
The Palestinian President has threatened to dissolve the Palestinian Authority in the event of failure placing Israel before its responsibilities as an “occupying power”. “I cannot continue as President of an Authority which, in any event, does not exist,” he said in a speech shown in Palestinian television on Friday 3 December. (F.B./transl.rt)