Brussels, 01/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 1 February the Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left welcomed Leila Shadid, Delegate General of the Palestinian Authority in Brussels, to a hearing on EU-Palestinian relations, following the Palestinian elections. Veronique de Keyser, president of the EU Observation Mission in these elections and Edward McMillan-Scott, president of the European Parliament Observation Mission also attended. President Josep Borrell made an impromptu appearance but only spoke at the end of the debates when he publicly and formally invited the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, to visit the European Parliament. Introducing the hearing, Francis Wurtz, president of the GUE/NGL group, underlined the stakes at play underpinning developments in Palestine for the EU and the region. Ms Shahdid affirmed that “what is at stake is not only the future of Palestine but also of the whole region and this future goes via Europe…We must not allow the results of these elections to hide really positive evolutions…which attest to the attachment of Palestinian citizens to the principle of political alternation”. Shadid explained that motives displayed by the electorate included the will to dismiss those responsible for failing in the internal management of Palestinian affairs and relations with Palestinian civil society but also highlights the loss of credibility of “90% of the Oslo process aggravated by 'unilateral' practices of Ariel Sharon who had been perceived as a peacemaker although he practiced a 'unilateral policy' that compromised the dialogue set up during the time of Yitzhak Rabin”. Ms Shahdid called on the EU to not give into the temptation to reactive in a negative way to the Hamas victory and leave the movement time to clarify its intentions and programme. She stated that the whole Palestinian people should not be sanctioned, underlining the fact that “the relationship with the EU is our oxygen” and called on the EU to adopt a “visionary attitude”. Ms Shadid declared that Europe is “our most important partner and its reaction will have a crucial influence” on the ground. She stressed that it would have serious consequences if political conditions were demanded of the new Palestinian leadership. She asserted that some people who were seeking sanctions had been having secret meetings with Hamas for a long time but she did not mention any names.
Ms De Keyser and Mr MacMillan-Scott then pointed out the conditions in which they had carried out their mission and highlighted the efficacy of the elections.