 |
|
Javier Solana, EU foreign policy chief
|
ELSINORE,
Denmark, August 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – The European
Union (EU) Foreign Ministers are to discuss a new Middle East plan
Saturday, August 31, 2002, notably aimed at setting up a Palestinian
state by 2005, on the second day of their talks, overshadowed by war
clouds over Iraq.
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country currently holds
the EU Presidency, hopes to persuade his EU counterparts to back the
"road map," which he will then take to the region in a
three-country trip from Monday, September 2, according to Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
"Although the situation on the ground remains extremely difficult,
we have over the past weeks been able to register some progress on
matters such as security and reform issues," he wrote in a letter
to his counterparts.
"This provides a small glimmer of hope," he added.
On Friday, August 30, Denmark called for a "realistic road
map" towards Palestinian statehood to be drawn up quickly and said
this would bolster the bloc's so-far hapless drive for a Middle East
peace conference, according to Israeli daily newspaper, Ha’aretz.
Denmark proposed three phases plan put obligations on both Israel and
the Palestinians leading up to the establishment of a Palestinian state
in June 2005.
The target date was set by U.S. President George W. Bush in a Middle
East policy speech two months ago.
However, the four-page document, distributed to EU Foreign Ministers at
their meeting in the Danish town of Elsinore, was not a plan in itself.
Rather it was a "summary and synthesis" of proposals already
put forward by France, Germany, the Arab League and the International
Crisis Group.
EU diplomats said the document should help prepare a common EU position
for a meeting of the peace-broking "Quartet" in New York in
mid-September.
It will also build on the stronger role the EU has at last found for
itself in Middle East diplomacy through the Quartet, which also includes
the United States, the UN and Russia.
The
EU FMs’ first day of talks Friday was focused on EU enlargement, but
the Middle East and current saber-rattling over Iraq have clouded the
agenda.
On Saturday the ministers, along with foreign policy chief Javier
Solana, will discuss the three-phase plan which will then be taken to
the Quartet meeting in New York in mid-September.
"We will be trying to move the process forwards, which to my mind
is very important," Solana told reporters.
According to the plan, the first stage would involve negotiations this
autumn, leading before the Palestinian elections next January to a
security agreement allowing the withdrawal of Israeli forces from
re-occupied Palestinian areas.
The second stage of the process "starts after the Palestinian
election in January 2003 and ends with the conclusion of an agreement on
the creation of a Palestinian state with provisional borders by August
2003."
The third phase of the plan, after August 2003, would involve a final
phase of negotiations aimed at the formal creation of a full Palestinian
state "with limited arms" by 2005, according to the Danish
Presidency document.
At the same time, peace talks would be launched between Israel, Syria
and Lebanon, the plan suggests.
To facilitate the accord, the Danish plan calls for "a public
statement in Arabic by the Palestinian leadership, restating Israel's
right to exist and calling for the respect of the Jewish faith."
At the same time, "It is clear that Israel must lift the blockade
on the Palestinian territories in order to ensure Palestinian elections
in January, and gradually pull out as the Palestinians take charge of
security in these zones," Moeller said.
"I
hope my EU colleagues will rally around this road map," Moeller
told reporters.
Moeller plans to travel to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, early next
week, providing the plan receives EU Ministers' backing.
Iraq will, meanwhile, again almost certainly cloud discussions - even
though participants play down the antagonism between the United States
and many Europeans over the issue.
"I think we should all have a cool look at what's happening,"
said EU external relations commissioner Chris Patten.
"We all recognize what a threat to regional stability Saddam
Hussein is, but it's going to take some cool heads to plot the right way
forwards," he added.
On Iraq, the EU above all is pinning its hopes on the UN to resolve the
looming crisis.
"We (the Europeans) have all confidence in the UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan to prevent the conflict in Iraq and we support whole
heartedly the work done by Kofi Annan," said Solana. 
