Washington, 03/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - After the EU/United States Summit, Presidents Aznar, Bush and Prodi were at pains to present a common and positive view in equal measure of the transatlantic partnership. Skirting around the disagreements (see page 12) they presented reporters with a black-and-white table of fruitful co-operation on the international scene, in terms of economics and also in the war on terror.
Mentioning 'some sign of progress", President George W. Bush said he was "optimistic" about the Middle East and stressed the EU and US' common vision of the peaceful coexistence of two states, Palestine and Israel. He hurried to note that a Palestinian state could not be based on terror, but on freedom, the respect of human rights and the rule of law, democracy and prosperity, before criticising Yasser Arafat, saying that he had had opportunities to make peace, but had not taken them in the past. He now has a chance to show that he can lead, added Bush, before going on to note that when the EU and the US work together they "multiplicate effectiveness", giving the example of the war on terror and the rebuilding of Afghanistan.
The Spanish President of the Council of the EU, Jose Maria Aznar, also mentioned the strong link between the US and the EU and the progress made in the field of co-operation. He focused on the war on terror and the stepping up of legal co-operation that he said would lead to the creation of a common legal area to prevent terrorists from circulating. On trade and economic relations, he said that 97% of economic issues worked satisfactorily.
The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, said the world worked better when the US and the EU worked together. While recognising disagreements, he stressed common values and strategies. Mr Prodi quoted the US steel safeguard measures as one of the disagreements, noting that they had to continue negotiating without prejudice to either side's WTO rights.
Colin Powell announces Middle East peace conference in the summer
After his meeting with the Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov, the Spanish foreign minister Josep Pique (also President of the EU Council), the EU High Representative Javier Solana, the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Colin Powell, the chief US diplomat, said that that preparatory talks would soon be launched with a view to holding a Middle East conference in the summer. Colin Powell did not give any details about where the conference would be held, how or when, but said that it would cover the major issues of security, economic reform, humanitarian issues and political perspectives. Speaking on behalf of all the meeting's participants he said that serious and accelerated negotiations would be prepared with a view to a settlement, saying that the time had come to act quickly to seize the opportunity that was opening up for them with the lifting of the siege of the Palestinian Authority. Mr Powell added that the summit participants felt it was time to get the Palestinian institutions, destroyed by the Israeli attack, back on their feet so they could tackle the security issues and be able to operate as negotiators again. We have to give the Palestinians the hope of having a country of their own, a better life for their families and their children, jobs, a healthcare system and everything we want for our own families, said Colin Powell, also calling on Yasser Arafat to move in a new direction to bring a halt to anti-Israeli violence.