Riva del Garda, 05/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - Travelling by boat or helicopter to avoid the roads blocked by anti-globalisation demonstrators, the Foreign Ministers of the 25 arrived in Riva on the shores of Lake Garda, Italy, early on Friday afternoon. After a progress report on "European security strategy", they were to prepare for the Intergovernmental Conference on the reform of the Treaty. The more heated discussion, on Iraq and the inclusion of Hamas on the European list of terrorist organisation, were to take place on Saturday.
On Friday, European diplomats were not ruling out the possibility of Ministers reaching compromise on Hamas. Consensus exists on the fact that the EU is deeply committed to fighting terrorist groups and those who bankroll them, said Cristina Gallach, spokesperson to the High Representative to Common Foreign and Security Policy, who pointed out that Hamas had claimed responsibility for the attacks. She stressed the fact that Hamas received no public money, but that it remained to be seen "whether individuals or organisations within the EU are sending any money to this organisation".
The High Representative, Javier Solana, opened discussion on Friday by summing up on the preparation of the document on "European security strategy", to be presented at the European Summit of December. Since the first text was presented by Javier Solana at the Thessaloniki Summit, some twenty current and future Member States of the EU have put forward contributions. An initial draft of the operational text will be sent to the ministers for the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in November. By then, a series of seminars will be organised by research institutes in Rome (19 September), Paris (17 October), and Stockholm (late October), following a Convention-inspired method.