04/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - Meeting of the Quartet chaired by Catherine Ashton. High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton will chair the first meeting of the Quartet for the Middle East of the year 2011 this Saturday 5 February. At this meeting, to be held on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, the heads of diplomacy of America, Hillary Clinton, and Russia, Sergueï Lavrov, and Catherine Ashton for the EU are set, according to a spokesperson from the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, “to adopt a new declaration on the Middle East”. Referring to events unfolding in a number of Arab countries, Ashton on the eve of the meeting highlighted the importance of “focusing on progress to be made to arrive at a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and Palestine - a key component for the peace and stability of the whole region”. (O.L./transl.fl)