THE HAGUE, 1 December 2004 — The European Union called yesterday on its Middle East partners including Israel to work together to make a success of January’s Palestinian leadership election and breathe new life into the peace process.
At a two-day EU-Mediterranean (Euromed) meeting here, the only forum at which Israel sits down for regular talks with the Arab world, the 25-nation bloc expressed guarded optimism that the election will prove a watershed.
But while Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom reaffirmed pledges by his government to smooth the path to the election, his Palestinian counterpart Nabil Shaath said such promises must be matched now by action on the ground.
EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana complained that the Euromed dialogue had long been held hostage by the Middle East conflict.
“That can and must change,” he said in a speech to foreign ministers also drawn from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.
“We, collectively and individually, must help the Palestinian people to succeed in their transition to a new direction,” Solana said.
“Everyone will be a winner: there will be more security for the Israelis and Palestinians, and more stability for the whole of our region and beyond.”
Europe and the United States have expressed new hope for the peace process ahead of the election on Jan. 9 to choose a successor to late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told reporters here that the Palestinian election represented a “new opportunity” for Middle East peace.
“Whether it could be used is an open question,” he said, underlining that the election was only one challenge along with an orderly Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the long-term task of building a Palestinian state.
Shaath said the post-Arafat leadership, likely to be led by presidential frontrunner Mahmoud Abbas, faced “absolutely daunting but absolutely necessary” challenges.
“There is optimism all around regarding this new drive to get the peace process back on line,” he said after talks here with Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, representing the EU’s presidency.
But Shaath added that “time is short” if the Palestinians are to get the ingredients in place for a successful election.
“Really if Israel were to act in good faith, and I hope it will, Israel should immediately allow the reopening of the voter registration offices in (east) Jerusalem,” Shaath said.
Israel should also pull out of all towns occupied since the start of the current Palestinian uprising or “intifada” in 2000, end “assassinations, violence (and) incursions” and lift “checkpoints and things that make life absolutely impossible if you are going to conduct an election”.
Arab-dominated East Jerusalem, however, is shaping up as a flashpoint in the election with Shalom adamant Monday that Israel would not compromise on its sovereignty over the divided city.
Bot meanwhile urged the Arab world to deepen modernization and work with Europe on economic development, trade, migration and the fight against terrorism. “We fully recognize that reform should come from the region itself. Nevertheless, Europe cannot stay at the sidelines of this debate. The common challenges are simply too important for that to be a possibility,” he said.
On the wider Euromed agenda, the foreign ministers noted in a statement that “substantial progress” has been made toward a region-wide free trade area by 2010.
