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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Dialogue between EU and Israel on the peace process in the Middle East

On February 22th, 2011, a dialogue session between the European Union and Israel was held as part of the EU-Israel Association Council’s session. Martonyi Janos, Hungarian Foreign Minister and Chairman of the meeting, said on this occasion that the peace process in the Middle East was more urgent than ever.The Association Council’s session was attended by Commissioner, Štefan Füle, and on Israel’s behalf, Avigdor Liberman, Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister. The EU and Israeli delegations gathered for a business breakfast, and a plenary session, to discuss bilateral relations and the Middle East situation.

János Martonyi gave his remarks at the follow-up press conference, saying the exchange of views was useful and productive. He called the relations between the EU and Israel a solid and vibrant partnership. Mr Martonyi confirmed the EU was committed to move forwardin implementing the EU-Israeli Association Action Plan.,

Regarding the dramatic political and social changes in the Middle East, Mr Martonyi said the peace process was “crucial”. Mr Martonyi claimed that Europe is convinced that progress on the peace process is more imperative and more urgent then ever before.

In response to a journalist’s question, Mr Martonyi declared that the EU-Israeli relationship also has critical elements, which are included in the EU’s declaration made for the Association Council’s session. The declaration primarily mentions the respect of the rights of Israel’s Arab minority, as suggested by Enlargement Commissioner, Stefan Fule, at the press conference.

Mr Fule called the EU-Israeli relationship strong, mature and close and also qualified the cooperation within the EU’s Neighbourhood Policy solid and vibrant partnership.

Mr Liberman found the atmosphere of the negotiations very friendly. He praised the EU as Israel’s largest commercial partner. The Israeli Foreign Minister said, the current instabilityin the Middle East is mainly caused by poverty and misery, but by no means by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr Liberman especially mentioned the need to reinforce the economy in the region’s countries, and that “Israel is the only strategic partner for the EU” within the region. Israel does not interfere in the internal affairs of Middle East countries, and hopes that the Arabic countries will respect their previous agreements with Israel, he added.

The EU-Israeli Association Council is a central body, regulating the relations between the EU and the Jewish state, regularly examining the state of bilateral relations, and making proposals for the reinforcement of cooperation.

Source  Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

More information  Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

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