Bremen, 02/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - The Europeans have welcomed the Arab peace initiative and hope to continue their contacts with the Palestinian ministers who are not part of Hamas. “A window of opportunity has opened and we must move the process forward”, said Javier Solana on Saturday, welcoming the relaunch of an Israeli-Arab peace initiative at the Riyadh summit and Israel's reaction to the efforts of the Arab League towards this. “The EU must lend all opportunities to this hope”, the high representative of the EU for the CFSP added, at the end of the informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers, stressing the importance of remaining in contact with the non-Hamas members of the Palestinian national union government. “We do not see why we should not see someone who has been a friend for a long time”, said Mr Solana, referring to the Palestinian finance minister, Salam Fayyad. He said the same of Foreign Affairs Minister Ziad Abou Amr, “who has been working with us for a long time”. On the other hand, however, “nobody has voiced any desire to enter into contact with Hamas”, who are still not respecting the principles of the Quartet (acknowledgement of Israel, renunciation of violence and recognition of past agreements), stressed Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The Quartet (United States, EU, Russia and the United Nations) will continue to speak with one voice and a meeting with another group of four countries, one bringing together the Arab countries of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, will take place “in the near future”, Mr Solana and Mr Steinmeier announced.
No radical changes are likely in the short term and the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) for aid to the Palestinians will be extended until the capacities of the new government have been assessed. “There have been more resources than in previous years to help the Palestinian territories”, thanks to this mechanism, which channelled €700 million in 2006, Mr Steinmeier reiterated. However, the mechanism is likely to develop gradually. “We are moving towards an international aid mechanism, which will also cover the reinforcement of the institutions and governance issues”, said Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The commissioner with responsibility for external aid will have the opportunity to hear the Palestinian point of view on the issue, when Mr Fayyad visits Brussels on 11 April. (ab)