Elsinor/Brussels, 02/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Monday the President of the EU Council, Per Stig Moeller, began a visit to the Middle East during which he intends to present a European "road map" for peace in the region. On Monday he was in Saudi Arabia and on Tuesday in Egypt. He is then expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority.
The "road map" was ratified on Saturday by Foreign Affairs Ministers during their informal "Gymnich" meeting in Elsinor. This completes the proposals of President Bush for creating a Palestinian State by 2005 and is expected to be presented as the European position on 16 September at the Quartet meeting on the Middle East with the USA, Russia and the Secretary General of the United Nations.
This "road map" outlines three stages up to 2005: 1) With the first phase being completed with Palestinian elections, announced for January 2003, a security agreements is expected to be signed between with Israel and the Palestinian Authority in order to put an end to the violence and organise the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the occupied territories. A Palestinian security service is also expected to be set up. Palestinian leaders are due to re-affirm the right of the State of Israel to exist. The Jewish State is expected to release Palestinian funds that have been blocked since the beginning of the intifada. It is also expected to allow the free movement of Palestinian workers; 2) between the election and summer 2003, a first stage of negotiations will be arranged that could lead to the setting up of a provisional Palestinian State, that will develop from a new Palestinian constitution to the setting up of a new Authority and provisional border negotiations that include "at least zones A and B" (a third of West Bank and two thirds of Gaza); 3) between summer 2003 and the creation of a definitive State in June 2005, the "transitional" government will negotiate fundamental pending issues: establishing definitive borders (on the basis of the 1967 borders with some "adjustments"), the status of Jerusalem as capital of the two countries, a "just, viable and gradual solution" for refugees.
The "road map" has been accepted by E15 Ministers and ought to be completed by the time the Quartet meets, in order to take into account the different ideas, pointed out Per Stig Moeller at the end of the informal weekend meeting. This will involve, in particular, according to Mr Moeller, ensuring that the "Quartet keeps up the initiative for maintaining support for the countries concerned". During discussions, he indicated that Ministers had particularly highlighted humanitarian and financial issues, emphasising that Israel had to release the funds that had been blocked and the Palestinians had to ensure that security was maintained in the Palestinian territories. Mr Moeller will also announce new funding for the region at the next meeting. Some delegations have appealed for the implementation of an OSCE kind of follow-up mechanism. Jordan and Egypt have been invited to deploy their own observers for the initiative.