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EU hopes for Mideast peace process revival

Updated: 26/Dec/2006 15:14

German Christian Democrat MEP Elmar Brok

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JERUSALEM (EJP)--- The chairman of an ad-hoc European Parliament delegation which met with the Israeli prime minister in Jerusalem last week has spoken of his hopes for the revival of the Middle East peace process.

German Christian Democrat MEP Elmar Brok was one of six European politicians who met with Ehud Olmert as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Both parties welcomed the initiative of the upcoming German council presidency to revive and strengthen the role of the Quartet in the Middle East peace process.

The delegation included Belgian Socialist vice-chair Véronique de Keyser, Spanish green MEP David Hammerstein Mintz, Luisa Morgantini, an Italian MEP from the European Left, and British Liberal Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne.

Improvement needed

"There is an absolute necessity to support President Abbas’ attempts to improve the political and socio-economic condition of the Palestinian people, which is a crucial step towards the greater goal of sustainable peace in the region," said Brok. "The EU can and
must make significant contributions towards this objective, through, for instance, broadening the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM)."

In extensive talks with both Olmert and Abbas the MEPs called for a rapid re-launch of negotiations along the road-map in order to reactivate the peace process.

The possibilty of a revival of talks between Israel and the Palestinians was given a boost last week when British prime minister Tony Blair flew into the country as part of his Middle East tour.

And on Saturday night Olmert and Abbas met for the first time in a while at Olmert’s official residence in Jerusalem.

While no concrete plans were released after the meeting, it was seen as an important step towards the continuing of negotiations.

However, Abbas has faced a difficult situation in recent weeks, with supporters of his Fatah party clashing violently with backers of the opposition Hamas leading to a number of deaths in the Gaza Strip.

Concerns expressed

Hamas rejected Abbas’s decision to talk with Olmert and the two parties have been unable to come to an agreement to form a unity government, something the entire international community is hoping for.

Concerned about the difficulties experienced by the Palestinian Authority to form a government of national unity, during their meetings with Abbas MEPs repeated their warnings about the dire consequences of any further escalation of the confrontation between Fatah and Hamas.

They strongly agreed with his attempts to reform Fatah structures while also resuming the direct dialogue with Israel in view of a negotiated solution. Members supported President Abbas’ statement that only a national unity government which met international obligations made sense, as only such a government could lead to the lifting of the embargo on international aid.