Brussels, 19/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 16 May, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that the ministerial meeting on the Middle East, initially planned for 30 May in Paris (see EUROPE 11552), has been postponed until 3 June, due to the agenda of US Secretary of State John Kerry.
“In order for all to be able to participate in this first ministerial meeting in Paris, I have proposed that the date, which was initially planned for 30 May, be postponed until 3 June”, Ayrault said at the end of a meeting with Kerry on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels.
“We need everyone. We need all the members of the [Unite Nations] Security Council, all the members of the Quartet (…) We need the Arab League. We need many countries that are engaged for peace and that are concerned about the worsening situation on the ground”, he said. “The political and strategic objective is (…) that the outlook for peace be a two-state solution: Israel, the security of which must definitely be guaranteed, but also for the Palestinians to be able to benefit from a viable state”, he added, saying that he shared “the same concerns and the same objectives” as Kerry. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)