Brussels, 05/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Catherine Ashton, who is the EU's foreign policy chief, is completing a two-day visit to the Middle East, begun on Wednesday 5 January. A press release states that she is meeting “key leaders from both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to confirm the commitment of the European Union to the peace process, and to reiterate the need for the opening of crossings into Gaza in order to allow for its reconstruction and economic recovery”.
Before her departure, Catherine Ashton said: “Urgent progress is now needed towards a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace and the European Union will continue to support all efforts towards that goal. There is no alternative to a negotiated solution. We want to see the State of Israel and a sovereign and viable State of Palestine living side by side in peace and security”.
The European Union and the United States reaffirmed, mid-December, their resolve to create a “sovereign” Palestinian state alongside Israel, without however committing themselves to a timetable or to unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. (Com-Gp/transl.jl)