Brussels, 01/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - At the international conference supporting the Palestinian authority in London on Tuesday, Javier Solana stressed the need to improve the living conditions of Palestinians. Improving the daily life of the Palestinians will also help fight terrorism, he said. We must “try to create better living conditions for Palestinians”, by getting rid of the road blocks which are not needed for security, he stressed. “There is no doubt that Palestinians must fight terrorism (…) via good police structures, but also via ordinary citizens opposed to terrorism because their living conditions will be improved by this”, he added. The President of the Council of the EU, Jean Asselborn, said that the London meeting offered a “real opportunity for the international community to support Palestinian efforts to consolidate the structures of the future Palestinian State”. He pointed out that in 1980, the nine countries of the European Community recognised for the first time the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. “Since then, the EU has not stopped working for the creation of a Palestinian State which is viable, democratic and peaceful”, said Mr Asselborn. He added: “the Palestinians have the right to peace, dignity, a future and a State. The EU's support to a viable and continuous Palestinian State is based on the belief that the development of the region is crucial for all the States in the region, not only for their prosperity, but also for their security. Europe's experience in reconciliation and integration can thus be used as an example”. The financial and technical assistance the EU has made to date for the Palestinians is considerable; it has even, from time to time, helped to “prevent the Palestinian Authority from collapse- especially in difficult times when customs revenue was blocked”, said Mr Asselborn. The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (who will visit Brussels on Wednesday) “hoped that this meeting would be just the start of a future international conference (…) allowing a solution to the refugee problem, the Israeli-populated colonies, to be found”. “We intend to go forward, put our house in order and stick to our commitments”, he said, stressing that Israel must also respect its commitments. Tony Blair stated the aim of “promoting the vision of two States in the Middle East, an Israeli State confident in its own safety and a viable and independent Palestinian State”. Some twenty foreign ministers (including Condoleezza Rice) and Kofi Annan took part in the meeting. Israel was not represented. A spokesperson of the Israeli minister for foreign affairs said on Tuesday that Israel would like the London conference to exhort the Palestinian Authority to “dismantle its terrorist infrastructure”.