Brussels, 12/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton began a two-day visit to Egypt on Monday 12 September. She held a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr at which the Middle East peace process and Palestine's request for membership of the UN to be made at the 66th General Assembly of the UN on 20-23 September were discussed. “There is no resolution on the table yet, so there is no position. What we're very clear about from the European Union is that the way forward is negotiations. We want to see a just and fair settlement. We want to see the people of Palestine and the people of Israel living side by side, in peace and security”, Ashton said in a press release. “I will do everything I can to try and help achieve that”, she added.
Discussions will continue on Tuesday 13 September when Ashton is scheduled to meet Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, and Nabil Elaraby, Secretary General of the Arab League. Bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of the countries of the Arab League are also planned.
Ashton will travel to Israel on Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 September, where she will have meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. (C-C.G./transl.rt)