Brussels, 20/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - “We have entered a stage where we are very carefully watching the declarations, the statements made by that new government, but also the first decisions and actions to be taken by that new government”, Frank-Walter Steinmeier pointed out on Monday after the meeting between the EU Troika and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Washington (see related article). “And of course this is going to have an influence on the readiness of the Europeans to cooperate with that government”, the German foreign minister told the press, reaffirming the EU's wait-and-see position (EUROPE 9389). Although, for now, the Hamas and Fatah government does not meet the Quartet's conditions, Europeans and Americans will have to judge the new coalition on what it does. They state their intention, however, to dialogue with President Mahmoud Abbas and to provide their aid to the Palestinian population.
“We have to say also that the government does not comply fully with the principle that the Quartet has so many times said publicly”, stressed Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the CFSP, saying that, once this is the case, “they will have total normalisation of relations with the government”. Ms Rice, like Mr Solana, sought to reassure, saying: “We're going to continue to help the Palestinian people and we're going to continue to deal with Abu Mazen [Ed.: Mahmoud Abbas]”, whom she is to meet at the end of the week during her visit to the region. “It doesn't sound very good to me when one talks about all forms of resistance”, she nonetheless observed, pending clarification from Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh regarding the use, or otherwise, of violence. For now, therefore, “it is very important that, in this tricky period, we should be able to at least keep our Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) in place and extend it for another three months, so that the Palestinians do not suffer pending our position on the new government of national unity”, said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations.
Several European capitals, however, wish to give the Palestinian government a chance, while keeping a certain distance from Hamas. Although the Palestinian government is “not exactly” what the EU wanted, “it would be a mistake to close the door in its face, saying that nothing has changed”, Massimo D'Alema, the Italian foreign minister, told Reuters on Monday. The spokesman for his French counterpart, Philippe Douste-Blazy, asserted on Tuesday that “France is prepared to resume political contacts with those members of the Palestinian government who are not drawn from Hamas”. He added that Paris was seeking to convince its European partners to resume payments of direct financial aid to the government. Another gesture came from Vienna where the Austrian foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, pointed out that she had invited the Palestinian foreign minister, Ziad Abu Amr, to Austria. Mr Abu Amr is one of the seven ministers of the government that belong neither to Fatah nor to Hamas. (ab)