EU urges Israel to make peace with Palestinians, not US
TULLAMORE, April 16: The European Union stepped up criticism of US President George Bush's Middle East policy shift on Friday, telling Israel it must make peace with the Palestinians rather than its friends in Washington.
"To achieve lasting peace and security, Israel still has to reach agreement with the Palestinian people," said Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, whose country currently holds the presidency of the bloc.
"It remains the case that Israel has to make peace with its enemies, not its friends. Israel and the United States are not in conflict," he told a news conference before a meeting with counterparts from the EU's 25 current and future member states.
There was widespread dismay in European capitals this week after Mr Bush backed Israeli plans to keep parts of the occupied West Bank and dismissed the right of Palestinian refugees to return to what is now Israel.
But, anxious to avoid another transatlantic clash, the bloc strained to put a positive spin on developments, singling out Mr Bush's endorsement of a unilateral pullout by Israel from the Gaza Strip as a chance to revive the moribund peace process.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking in Washington before talks with Mr Bush, dismissed Palestinian accusations that the US policy shift had crippled the roadmap put forward by major powers in 2002.
The plan, crafted by the "Quartet" of the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations, laid out steps towards an independent Palestinian state and a final settlement by next year. The EU's foreign policy chief said the Quartet was likely to meet in Berlin around April 28.
Asked about Washington's backing for Israel's claim to parts of the West Bank, he said the roadmap remained the basic framework for reaching a final settlement.
NO UNILATERAL DEAL: Diplomats said French President Jacques Chirac had voiced what many across Europe were thinking on Thursday when he branded Mr Bush's support for the Israeli plan to keep parts of the West Bank an "unfortunate and dangerous precedent".
Mr Cowen, acknowledging differences with Washington, said: "Everyone knows that any attempt to resolve the conflict unilaterally will not bring lasting peace." And British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters as he arrived for the two-day EU meeting in the Irish midlands town of Tullamore that Israel's plans must "take place in the context of the roadmap".
"And of course we accept that any final status has to be a matter for negotiations between the parties," he said. The foreign ministers were also due to discuss the escalation of violence in Iraq and press for the United Nations' role to be reinforced as the occupying power prepares to return sovereignty to the people on June 30.
Diplomats said the current spate of hostage-taking in Iraq and mounting concern about Al Qaeda attacks in Europe following last month's Madrid train bombings was likely to put a spotlight at the meeting on EU states with forces in the country. -Reuters
