Brussels, 12/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 12 September, the EU welcomed the agreement in principle, announced the previous day by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on the formation of a Palestinian government of national unity, made up of members of Hamas and Fatah. “The Presidency sees this as a positive development and hopes that it will create the conditions for a return to the process of negotiation between the Israeli and Palestinian sides,” said the Finnish Presidency in a press release. “The Presidency reiterates the belief of the European Union that only a negotiated two-state solution can bring lasting peace to the Middle East,” the text continues. High Representative for the CFSP Javier Solana also welcomed the statement from President Abbas: “I hope that he will succeed very soon in his efforts to form a unity government. That development could have a very positive influence to re-energise the peace process,” he said in a press release.
The EU is placing great hopes on the formation of such a government, insofar as it could help to bring an end to the political isolation of the Palestinian government which is dominated by Hamas, with which the EU and the other members of the Quartet have so far refused to discuss, and provide the Israelis with a valid and acceptable interlocutor should peace talks resume. At their informal meeting in Lappeenranta on 1st and 2 September, EU foreign ministers considered that the formation of a government of national unity on Palestine was a priority (see EUROPE 9257). It would be a Palestinian government “to which no one could refuse to talk,” said the Council President Erkki Tuomioja. While awaiting the formation of a new Palestinian government and before direct contact can begin, the EU will keep in place its demands (and those of the Quartet as a whole) with regard to Hamas: renunciation of violence, recognition of Israel's right to existence, acceptance of existing agreements. The EU stresses, however, that, should Hamas effectively take part in a Palestinian government of national unity, this would indeed mean that it had accepted these conditions.