Beirut, 20/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - In a statement published on Monday evening in Beirut (against the backdrop of the EU Troika's visit to the region) the President of the EU Council of Ministers, Guy Verhofstadt, and the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, welcomed the EU getting involved in the Middle East again (announced in the speech by the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell).
In a speech at the University of Louisville (Kentucky) on Monday, Mr Powell announced that the United States was "ready to play an active leadership role in helping the parties along the road to a more hopeful future". His Assistant, Bill Burns, will "return to the region later this week for consultations" and retired General Anthony Zinni has been given "the immediate mission of helping the parties achieve a durable ceasefire" as announced by Israeli premier Ariel Sharon and the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat. In his speech (deemed by EU diplomats as "balanced", including words that the EU needs to make progress), Colin Powell called on the Palestinians to put an end to violence and arrest those who carried out the terrorist attacks and for Israel to stop occupying Palestinian land "consistent with the principles embodied in Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and accept a viable Palestinian state". While highlighting the Palestinians' responsibility for the climate of violence, Mr Powell recognised Palestinian "frustration" after having "grown up with checkpoints and raids and indignities", he said that "All in the Arab world must make unmistakably clear, through their own actions, their acceptance of Israel and their commitment to a negotiated settlement".
Picking up Colin Powell's reference to continuing to "work closely with Egypt and Jordan, with the European Union, the United Nations Secretary General, with Russia and many other partners in this effort", Guy Verhofstadt and Romano Prodi stress in their statement "the fact that the European Union and the United States are adopting a common approach to the Middle East Peace Process". They said their objective was two-fold - "the creation of the democratic, viable, independent state of Palestine and the commitment… to actively guarantee the security of Israel". They said that no new initiatives were needed, but called on the parties to "commit themselves to implement all signed agreements… In this respect, we call on Israelis and Palestinians to fully implement the Mitchell report and the Tenet understanding, in particular a cessation of violence and an immediate freeze of settlement activities". Messrs Verhofstadt and Prodi also said, "We believe that peace in the Middle East will not be comprehensive without Lebanon and Syria. Negotiations on these tracks should resume with the aim of reaching an agreement according to UN Resolutions 242 and 338".