Brussels, 14/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU member state positions over the recognition of the state of Palestine at the General Assembly of the United Nations in September continue to diverge ahead of the last EU Foreign Affairs Council before the summer break, to be held in Brussels on Monday.
“We cannot deny that there are different views among member states” about the recognition of Palestine, an EU source said.
Luxembourg and France appear to be the EU countries most favourable to the Palestinian initiative of obtaining recognition by the UN assembly. The Netherlands and the Czech Republic, on the other hand, are strongly opposed to this possibility.
Most EU member states recognise the importance of going ahead with the Middle East peace process and want the EU to maintain a balanced position.
“We are trying to be as constructive as possible. We have the impression that once again Europe is in a position of playing the role of honest broker”, a diplomatic source of the EU Polish presidency said.
Although formally maintaining a neutral position, the role of “honest broker” is likely to translate into an attempt to discourage the Palestinians from an initiative that is seen by many as detrimental to the Middle East peace process.
“Scoring a symbolic victory is maybe not the right way ahead”, underlined another EU source. “It could instead be counter-productive”, the source added.
The reference to a “symbolic victory” is due to the fact that, in the best scenario, Palestinians cannot hope to go further than winning a non-binding resolution in the UN assembly. In fact, the legal process will be inevitably blocked at the Security Council, where the United States has already repeatedly announced its veto to the initiative.
“We do not think that forcing the United States to use its veto power, also in view of the US elections, would be a constructive approach,” the source added. (Cor)