Brussels, 21/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton has met the foreign ministers of the 27 member states of the EU and has received their support for continuing her on-going efforts to make progress in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, her spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic has announced. Without commenting on a possible European joint position on the Palestinian request for recognition as an independent state, Kocijancic said that Ashtn's mandate was clear: to continue efforts to relaunch the Middle East peace process, and it was with that mandate that she was in New York.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday proposed an intermediate status of an observer state at the UN for the Palestinians, suggesting a one-year timescale for reaching a definitive peace deal with Israel.
MEPS from the ALDE Group urged member states to agree a joint stance. “The EU has a key role to play on the issue of an improved status for Palestine in the UN. That is why it is crucial that the member states speak with one voice and reach a common position. To be effective and be able to influence the resumption of Middle East talks, the EU must decide on a single, united position”, said Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (Germany).
Negotiations at a standstill. In his speech opening the General Assembly, Ban Ki-moon promised that the United Nations would work tirelessly to make progress in the peace process and to reach peace through a negotiated settlement. He stated that it was necessary to break the deadlock. There has long been agreement that the Palestinians deserve to have their own state, he said, and that Israel needs security. Both, he argued, want peace. UK Foreign Minister William Hague said, however, that the Quartet had made no progress whatsoever on preparing a statement to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (CG/transl.rt)