Cairo, 14/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 14 November, the foreign affairs minister of Egypt said - during the opening session of the EU-Egypt taskforce - that he hoped the European Union would support the Palestinian aspiration to become a non member state of the United Nations. Recalling that the Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to the EU, he stressed the EU's “great responsibility” in the Middle East peace talks. Véronique de Keyser MEP (S&D, Belgium) said for her part that this statement calling for the EU's support for the Palestinian request shows that what the EU countries are going to do “is going to be watched in the Arab world”.
The previous day - at the Arab League-EU summit - High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton had said that the peace process would be discussed by European foreign affairs ministers on 19 November. During the summit, the European and Arab ministers “called for the removal of all obstacles that prevent an immediate resumption of negotiations between the parties as well as the resolution of all issues related to the final status for achieving a solution of two states living side by side in peace and security”. The ministers expressed their concern at the recent escalation in and around the Gaza Strip and welcomed Egyptian efforts to reach a ceasefire. (CG/transl.fl)