On Friday 27 September, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced the launch of a Global Alliance for the Two-State Solution in the Middle East.
“With (Saudi Foreign Minister) Faisal bin Farhan, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, the Contact Group of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Norway, we have brought together a large number of members of the United Nations to launch the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution”, he announced on X.
The first of the “practical, working-level” follow-up meetings will be held in Riyadh, “where we should identify the core elements of what we can all do towards that implementation, and to face and oppose to the ones who do not want it”, according to Mr Borrell. The next meeting will take place in Brussels in November, he added. Others will follow in Cairo, Oslo, Amman and Ankara.
“We will focus on the action points identified today at the ministerial meeting, aimed at advancing the peace efforts of the UN and other organisations in the context of promoting the two-state solution”, Saudi minister Faisal bin Farhan explained to the media, adding that the focus will be on the creation of a Palestinian state.
“From the European Union’s viewpoint, that global alliance must be an umbrella under which all [partners] can place whatever they want to do in order to contribute, to incentivise, to help, to encourage, to push, to envisage, to elaborate, and to act towards the implementation of the Two-State Solution”, explained Mr Borrell in a speech delivered at the meeting.
While everyone agrees that there is no alternative to this solution, there is disagreement about how and when to implement it.
“It is up to Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate their own peace, but they will not do it alone. They need all of us to help them to get there. By preparing the ground for the bridge they need to build, by offering both carrots and sticks, and by us joining forces as a practical, forward-looking global alliance”, he explained.
In his speech at the UN event, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, promised that the EU was doing more, and wanted to do more, to bring about lasting peace as part of a two-state solution.
“We support the existence of a strong and democratic State of Israel, living in peace and security alongside the Palestinian people, who must also have their own viable and stable State. The Palestinian people deserve respect and dignity”, he added, reminding the Israeli government that “aiming for security while neglecting peace is an illusion”.
He went on to emphasise that: “A world fuelled by vengeance and collective punishment is a less secure world. The Palestinian people have the right to their own State. Denying it this right will fuel threats to the security of Israelis indefinitely”.
Support for UNRWA. At a ministerial meeting of the main partners supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the EU High Representative announced a “forthcoming payment of €16 million - the 3rd instalment of EU financial assistance for 2024”.
For his part, Charles Michel pointed out that last year the EU provided more than 40% of UNRWA’s budget.
“It is a humanitarian and development organisation. And we condemn any attempt to label a United Nations agency as a terrorist organisation”, he added (Israel wants to dismantle the organisation). “You can count on the European Union to be a solid and reliable partner for UNRWA”, promised Mr Michel, paying tribute to the 222 UNRWA workers killed in Gaza since the start of the war. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)