The 28 Foreign Affairs Ministers make a proposal in the “economic and security” area to try to help end the Arab-Israeli issue
Europe is ready to offer an “unprecedented” incentive to try and reach the final and lasting solution to the Arab-Israeli issue: a “special” Economic Partnership as the prize for a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine. The Foreign Ministers of the EU countries put pressure on the parties involved, trying to revive the peace process with promises of prizes for the determination and the will to put an end to a conflict that has dragged on for more than sixty years. Today, the EU initiative that seeks to accelerate the beginning to the end of each dispute and the creation of two states, the solution has always been supported by the community. “The EU is ready to offer an unprecedented package of European economic and security support to both sides;” the heads of diplomacy for the 28 member states in the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council on the Middle Eastern peace process put pen to paper. “In case of a final agreement, the EU will grant Israel and the future Palestinian state a special privileged partnership that includes greater access to the European market, more scientific ties, trade facilitation and investment.”
Brussels stays firm on the need to achieve a solution for the two states and to avoid compromising the negotiating process. The Foreign Affairs Council calls on Israel to stop the construction of settlements, and asks the Palestinians to halt the violence. “The European Union – the ministers write – deplores the continued expansion of Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law and constitute an obstacle to peace.” Refrain from taking “any action which may jeopardize the negotiations” is the request made to PNA (Palestinian National Authority) from a Europe that does not hide “deep concern about the incitement to violence in the occupied territories.”
R.G.
