Caceres, 11/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting in Caceres on Wednesday afternoon, EU foreign ministers called for the creation of a Palestinian state as step towards restoring security and the relaunch of negotiations on the status of Palestine with the aim of concentrating on politics rather than focussing exclusively on security, explained the President of the Council of Ministers, Josep Picque, after the meeting. On Sunday, this approach was described as an important step in the support for the peace process by Yasser Arafat's spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdainah. A high ranking Israeli official, however, quoted by Reuters in Jerusalem, said the EU's position put the cart before the horse, adding that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that at the end of the process there would be something approaching a Palestinian state but first of all the question of violence had to be solved, terrorism had to be ended and a climate had to be established in which it was possible to negotiate without the fear of a bloodbath.
Despite Israel's blunt refusal, the EU is expected to continue with this approach, giving details of its strategy at the 18 February General Affairs Council. The Spanish Presidency will unveil a working document at the meeting to chart the terrain of the peace process, explained Josep Pique, saying it would be a working document rather than a plan at this stage since, as a Spanish diplomat admitted, it would be pointless to produce a new plan if nothing comes of it. On Saturday in Caceres Spain presented a first draft of the document including the French proposals on the creation of a Palestinian state and the organisation of elections, and the Italian idea of an international conference and a Marshall plan for the Middle East.
Spain notes in the document that it is unrealistic to want to move from a cease-fire to negotiations on the long-term status of Palestine and to simply re-use the Oslo architecture. The EU should help define an intermediary stage based around the rapid creation of a Palestinian state, which is currently being discussed by the chief Israeli diplomat, Shimon Peres, and the president of the Palestinian Assembly, Abu Ala. This approach might cause a psychological shock that could justify the end of the intifada and create symmetrical mutual obligations between the two states, argues France in a document handed to ministers on Saturday. French foreign minister Hubert Védrine said this stage might provide a political response to a constantly insidious practice by the Israeli government of undermining the basis of the Palestinian Authority. Josep Pique told journalists that the creation of a Palestinian state could of course only be a Palestinian initiative, not an EU initiative, but if the state of Palestine were proclaimed, the EU would be able to recognise it.
The concrete implementation of such an intermediary stage would be subject to the creation of critical mass in the security domain, but either way the parties would have to assume that some remnants of terrorism would continue to exist, notes the Presidency document. It puts forward a series of mechanisms for ensuring that the Israeli government would not be the only judge of Palestinian efforts in terms of security, and that the EU could, for example, tell the Palestinian Authority what in its view constituted 100% of the required efforts in terms of fighting terrorism. The group of observers in the field would continue its work and the heads of mission in Jerusalem and Ramullah are in the process of drafting a report on the potential for co-operation that could put an end to the cash flows for extremist organisations.
In terms of politics, the Spanish document outlines steps for ensuring the viability of a state of Palestine - respecting the territorial agreements signed by both sides in the past, particularly in terms of the third redeployment; greater democratic legitimacy and institutional consolidation of the Palestinian Authority; and economic measures supported by the international community. If all these elements are met, then the idea of an international conference, as put forward by Italy, could be meaningful. The EU could use the occasion of a conference of the ad hoc liaison committee on 15 March 2002 to give its proposals greater visibility, explained a diplomat.
Most ministers, along with the Spanish Presidency, were more lukewarm about the idea of organising Palestinian elections that was put forward by France. The French idea is for elections to give the Palestinian Authority greater legitimacy in its attempts to reduce extremism and to give Israelis the feeling that a majority favoured peace on the other side and there were structures mandated to re-enter negotiations.
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"The idea of a timely election, or any other form of consultation, is positive to bring the debate back to the political ground", Council President Josep Piqué acknowledged, stressing, however, that "presently, elections could radicalise positions. We can only speak of elections in a climate of hope, and with minimum security conditions". For a senior German official, there was no reason to push Yasser Arafat into elections, "that will change nothing on the ground and risk engendering radicalisation". "The situation in the Middle East may be qualified as dangerous and even extremely difficult", stressed German Foreign minister Joschka Fischer, who is to go to the area in the second part of this week, taking over from Britain's Jack Straw, who has just visited the Middle East. France, for which the proposals of the creation of a Palestinian State and the holding of elections were "closely complementary", Finally had to backtrack before the strong reluctance on the part of its partners: "elections are to for this week anyway", Hubert Vedrine conceded.