Brussels, 21/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 21 June, the presidents of the European Council and Israel, Donald Tusk and Reuven Rivlin respectively, held a meeting in Brussels and discussed the different ways of deepening cooperation between the European Union and the Israeli authorities, especially with regard to counter-terrorism.
“We spoke about ways to strengthen further our relationship, including the new European neighbourhood policy. We agreed that the European Union and Israel will identify jointly partnership priorities to give even greater focus to our cooperation”, Tusk stated at a press conference after their meeting. He reiterated that the EU and Israel were strong partners and that they cooperated closely across many areas.
“The EU is Israel's first partner in all areas - trade, science, the environment and culture”, Rivlin added. In his view, relations between the EU and Israel go beyond just common interests because “they are founded on basic values - democracy, freedom of expression, liberalism and human dignity”. These values are a solid basis for increasing relations more and more, he said.
Stating that he had talked to his guest about the best way to protect Israeli and European citizens against terrorism, Tusk hailed Israel's offer to deepen cooperation on fighting terrorism, “including by relaunching our dialogue in this area later this year”.
Tusk also spoke about the Middle East peace process, reiterating that “lasting peace in the region remains a top priority for the European Union”. The EU is ready to back up a peace deal with an unprecedented package of cooperation and support to both Israel and the future state of Palestine (see other article), he said. He also hailed the temporary freeze in demolitions of Palestinian property announced by Israel for the month of Ramadan. Tusk said he hoped this freeze would “become a basis for a more permanent solution, such as a full moratorium on demolitions and confiscations in Area C of the West Bank”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)