Brussels, 08/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Spanish Presidency has confirmed that a quadrilateral meeting on the Middle East will be held on Wednesday 10 April in Madrid, between the Spanish Prime Minister, José Maria Aznar, the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, the Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov; and the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. A joint declaration calling for immediate application of United Nations resolutions could be adopted, Javier Solana said on Monday.
Half-way through Mr Powell's visit to the Middle East, the meeting will show a "clear determination to defend a position that is as united as possible and will show that we want Colin Powell's visit to the region to be accompanied by the international community", Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Piqué said in an interview with the daily ABC. He hoped that, "with the support of the UN, the EU and of Russia, Colin Powell may be able to go before the Israelis and the Palestinians with greater moral weight and political influence than if he simply represented the United States". Commission President Romano Prodi said on Sunday that "we know perfectly well that there can be no peace in the Middle East if the United States, Europe, Russia and the moderate Arab countries do not come together around the same table with the United Nations". "The EU is forced to do less than it can to resolve the crisis in the Balkans, because the Israelis do not accept Europe as a discussion partner and only want a mediator, the United States", he stressed. He hoped that Colin Powell's visit to the region will be a "first step to step the bloodbath and violence and prepare for a global solution". Chancellor Schröder, for his part, announced that Germany will present peace proposals to the General Affairs Council on 15 April. He did not give details.
Despite the calls for immediate withdrawal from the UN, George Bush and the EU, Israel continued the "protective wall" operation in the West Bank, begun on 29 March. "In my discussions with President Bush (…) I gave my assurance that we would make every effort to speed up our military operation and withdraw our forces from those areas where the operation has come to an end", Ariel Sharon said on Monday, saying that the Israeli army will establish safe havens after its withdrawal.
EU/Israel Association Council to be convened early?
President Prodi said on Monday that he was planning to bring the date of the EU/Israel Association Council forward, unless the situation improves. He refused, however, to give an opinion on how appropriate sanctions or suspension of the agreement would be, considering that "priority must be given to dialogue". Mr Piqué told ABC that "we have discussed the possibility of sanctions at the extraordinary meeting of Foreign Ministers in Luxembourg (…). It is a possible scenario but we must discuss it among the Fifteen and finalise a common position. Some countries support sanctions very, very soon. Others are more reticent", he said on Sunday. "If Israel continues in its refusal to apply the Security Council resolutions and international law, I believe that we shall have to envisage alternatives. But, for the moment, the most reasonable thing is to do everything possible to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible". Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel had told the RTB at the weekend that the Fifteen may discuss review of the Association Agreement, "and possibly open a procedure to see if it is appropriate for such an agreement to remain valid after such an attitude on the part of Sharon".
Solana and Prodi recall legitimacy of President Arafat
"Yasser Arafat continues to be our interlocutor", Mr Solana recalled on Monday. "President Arafat, as the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people and interlocutor of the international community, cannot be isolated, especially at a time when every effort must be made to reach a ceasefire and implement Resolution 1402", he said in a press release. The "EU remains convinced that Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority are legitimate partners with whom peace talks must begin again immediately", Mr Prodi affirmed. Remarking that "terrorism threatens the legitimacy of the cause of the Palestinian people", he stressed that "we are calling on Arafat to do everything in his power (…). He is in a position of weakness but his voice still carries weight". The destruction of the Palestinian infrastructures could create a point of non-return, where there will be no more interlocutors to apply a ceasefire, it is feared in Javier Solana's circles.