Brussels, 16/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Irish minister of foreign affairs Brian Cowen affirmed on Thursday in Tel Aviv during his first foreign visit as president of the EU Council, he hoped that the Irish presidency would relaunch the peace process in the Middle East based on the Quartet's "road map" (EU, UN, USA, Russia). In an address to the press, following discussions with his Israeli counterpart Sylvan Shalom, Mr Cowen (who met prime minister Sharon and opposition leader Peres on Friday) said that Arab countries had to recognise the right of Israel to exist and that the continuation of Israeli colonies in the Palestinian territories had particularly negative consequences on relations between Israel and the European Union.