Salzburg, 10/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Friday EU Foreign Ministers began their informal two-day meeting (“Gymnich”) in Salzburg with a debate on the issue of European aid to the Palestinians in the perspective of a Hamas-dominated Palestinian government. The EU High Representative for the CFSP Javier Solana and Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner presented Ministers with a technical report which described in detail the different categories of Community aid currently granted to the Palestinians (humanitarian aid, socio-economic aid and capacity building, aid to refugees, support for specific schemes etc;) and, especially, the channels and practical conditions through which this aid - 250 million euro per year - passes. The aim of this detailed technical examination was to help Ministers come to a decision on whether to suspend, continue or reorganise aid after the future Palestinian government comes to office, explained diplomats. Mr Solana and Mrs Ferraro-Waldner's report does not yet take a stance on this delicate political problem, which will only become concrete after the formation of the Palestinian government, not expected before the end of the month or early April. The report is, however, very clear that the principles defined by the Quartet (EU, United States, Russia and UN) should remain the reference framework for the EU, that is, there will be no European aid for a Palestinian government which does not seek a peaceful solution to the Israel-Palestine problem, or which does not recognise the right of Israel to exist or which fails to respect agreements already concluded, including the road map of the peace process. Ministers are expected to reiterate these principles at the end of their Salzburg meeting, said diplomats. On Friday morning, speaking to Press before the meeting began, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner also said that European money would no go to the new government unless it sought peace through peaceful means.
On Friday afternoon, Ministers turned their attention to Iran's nuclear programme, following that country's being reported to the UN Security Council this week. On arriving in Salzburg, the Austrian Foreign Affairs Minister and current President of the Council Ursula Plassnik, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner and other Ministers stressed that the EU was going to continue to work for a “diplomatic solution”. Although Mrs Plassnik would not say whether or not she thought it was appropriate for the Security Council to impose sanctions on Tehran, EU High Representative Javier Solana did not rule out that option. “I am not ruling out sanctions, but it depends on what sort of sanctions it is,” he said on Friday in an interview with the Austrian daily Der Standard. “We certainly do not want to hurt the Iranian people,” he continued, adding that such a decision would not be “an easy one” for the Security Council. Discussions were continuing in the late afternoon. It was not expected that Ministers adopt a declaration on Iran
The Salzburg meeting will continue on Saturday with, as the main topics for debate, the western Balkans, and a joint meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the five countries concerned, and Turkey (see EUROPE 9147, p4). The draft joint declaration on the Balkans which the Austrian Presidency would like to have adopted by the informal Council confirms that the future of the western Balkans is in Europe, that all the countries have made significant progress on their way towards the EU and that member States support the strategy and concrete measures proposed by the European Commission in its recent communication on the Balkans.