Brussels, 03/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - Addressing the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, the EU High Representative for CFSP presented his analysis of the different dossiers debated in New York at the United Nations General Assembly. Reasonably optimistic about the definition of a political horizon to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Javier Solana, proved more worried about developments in the Iranian nuclear affair. He expects progress from Tehran if new UN sanctions are to be avoided. He also approved the proposal from the president of the parliamentary committee, Jacek Saruysz-Wolski (EPP-ED, Poland), in his report on common foreign energy policy (EUROPE 9510) and approved the appointment of a High Representative for foreign policy in this area.
Middle East. In the context of the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis, Javier Solana, said that, “a new feasibility dynamic is ongoing but tangible results are not yet certain”. MEPs were more measured in their appreciation of developments in the conflict and MEPs posed a number of questions about the humanitarian situation in the occupied territories. Mr Solana exclaimed that, “we should repeat that the EU has not abandoned the Palestinians” and pointed out that the EU and member states continued to be the biggest donors of humanitarian aid. Pointing out that the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad, was doing all he could to “manage the situation” regarding the divisions between Gaza and the West Bank, Solana acknowledged that he did not know how the intra-Palestinian dialogue could start up again, even though he was placing his hopes in Mahmoud Abbas.
Iran. The international community is continuing its double approach vis-à-vis Tehran, namely, negotiations and action at the UN but, “the situation is not good”. Mr Solana said that if the situation did not advance at a political level, “the risk of new sanctions is real”. He also stated that the next few months would be very important. Before going into more details about UN sanctions, Solana indicated that he still wanted to meet the Iranian negotiator, Ali Larijani. He said that he hoped a series of meetings could take place in mid-November. At the same time, Tehran also has to make progress in its negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Kosovo. Although the first direct negotiations between Serbs and Kosovars took place in New York last week, nothing out of the remarkable was achieved and the two sides will have another meeting with Troika representatives on 14 October in Brussels. Negotiations should last until 10 December when European, US and Russian representatives at the Troika deliver a report on the future of Kosovo to the UN Secretary General. There will then be a debate at the Security Council, explained Solana, calling on the Europeans to pilot this process and be ready to send an ESDP mission as soon as possible. He did not want, however, to give details on what attitude to adopt in the event of a declaration of independence of the current Serbian province or possible individual recognition by individual member states that could follow. He preferred to put emphasis on negotiations and wait for elections in Kosovo and Serbia where the presidential election is finally expected to take place by the end of the year.
Darfur. Welcoming adoption of the UN resolution for deploying a European military force to Chad and the Central African Republic, Solana said that he hoped that there would be a deployment in November. He indicated that he had the impression that, “we will be able to deploy this mission according to the deadlines included in the Security Council resolution”. The Council is expected to adopt a common action for deploying the EUFOR-CHA/CAR soon. The Irish general, Pat Nash, will be in charge of it. This is expected to guarantee a European dimension to the mission, in his eyes, as requested by MEPs (EUROPE 9511). He stressed that the Chad mission is not a French mission but a European mission that would be neutral.
Myanmar. Solana deplored the fact that they had made declarations at all levels but that the situation had worsened. He repeated appeals to China and India to get much more involved in this dossier, together with ASEAN. Meeting on the same day, EU27 ambassadors proposed a strengthening of sanctions on Myanmar to EU foreign ministers, who will be meeting on 15 October in Luxembourg. COREPER also underlined the importance of continuing political and diplomatic action, also at the UN and involving key partners, especially regional partners. Mr Solana said that he was ready to send an EU representative to Burma but preferred to wait until the report he would be sending the UN Special Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari when the latter returns from the country. (ab)