2ND EU backs Palestinian unity government, ready for talks

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Friday September 15, 2006

Brussels- Seeking a restart of the stalled Mideast peace process, the European Union on Friday signalled readiness to engage in talks with a new Palestinian unity government. A government of national unity "creates a new situation," Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country currently runs the rotating EU presidency, said after a meeting with his counterparts in Brussels.

"It allows us to break the deadlock in which we have been since the Palestinian elections in January" brought Hamas to power, Tuomioja said.

The Palestinian militant Hamas is currently on the bloc's terrorist list which means that all EU contacts with the group are banned.

A broad-based government comprising members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party and the Hamas movement would allow the EU "to re-engage directly with the Palestinian administration," Tuomioja said.

Abbas' had assured the EU that a new government would be committed to all previous peace agreements.

However, key details "remain in the air and are precarious," Tuomioja cautioned, adding: "And the process of maintaining a new government is not yet completed."

A joint statement by the 25 EU foreign ministers underlines the bloc's commitment to promote "tangible progress towards a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," welcoming Abbas' announcement to form a government of national unity.

The EU hopes that the new government's "political platform will reflect the Quartet principles and allow for early (EU) engagement," EU ministers underlined.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the bloc would support Abbas' efforts to bring about a new administration with which the international community could engage.

"I think it is clear (that) we want to be firm on the principles, but we should be flexible about the form this government chooses in the text (of the agreement)," she said.

Previous peace deals outlined by the so-called Mideast Quartet - the United States, the United Nations, the EU and Russia - demand that the Palestinian Authority renounces violence, recognizes Israel and abides by past peace deals.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the EU must seize the current situation in the Middle East for reviving the peace process, warning that chances are only limited.

"The window of opportunities for a political restart which could mean the renewal of the peace process is ... only slightly open," Steinmeier said.

Signalling that any immediate move to end an embargo on the Hamas- led Palestinian government is unlikely, EU ministers stressed that the bloc needs to see the agreement between Hamas and Fatah first before deciding on establishing new contacts with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The 25-member union cut off direct financial aid to the PA after the radical Islamic Hamas movement won legislative elections and formed a government in March.

The United States urged the EU on Thursday to keep the boycott on aid to the Palestinian Authority in place until the emerging unity government recognizes Israel's right to exist and renounces violence.

EU ministers said it was too early to decide whether to resume direct aid to the cash-strapped PA, but agreed to extend a temporary support scheme bypassing Hamas for another three months.

The EU invited Abbas for talks in New York next week on the margins of the UN General Assembly's annual meeting, Tuomioja said.

"The time has come to enlarge the dialogue and to make our principles clear to all sides of the Palestinian people," said Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik.

British Minister for European Affairs Geoff Hoon said that the EU wants the agreement between Hamas and Fatah to form a government of national unity to recognize the principles set out by the Quartet.

"I do think we need to be positive, we want to be engaged," Hoon said, adding: "We want to move things along, we want to see a return to the Road Map and we want to see progress in the region."

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur