Global Arab Network | Egypt, France: EU participation in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations very significant

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Egypt, France: EU participation in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations very significant

Tuesday, 31 August 2010 19:06

Egypt, France: EU participation in direct Palestinian-Israel negotiations very significant

An Egyptian French Summit was held at Elysee Palace between President Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

During the summit, which lasted for many hours, President Sarkozy said he shares President Mubarak the view that the European participation in launching direct negotiations between the Palestinian authority and Israel is very significant.

President Mubarak, on his part, said Egypt has done its utmost in cooperation with the Palestinian and Israeli sides and its regional and international partners for providing the climate conducive to relaunching direct negotiations in order to relaunch direct negotiations and to enable the Middle East of taking advantage of the new opportunity.

Egypt will always remain at the heart of efforts aiming at realizing peace and stability in the Middle East region as it believes that just peace and peaceful co-existence is a vital and urgent demand that cannot stand failure or delay, Mubarak said at a joint press conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

He hoped that the US administration and the other Quartet members would shoulder their responsibilities and seize this important opportunity to make peace.

President Mubarak also hoped that the Palestinian and Israeli sides would shoulder their responsibilities in a way that would help materialize peoples' aspirations for a just peace that would set up a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and guarantee security to Israel and the rest of regional countries.

Mubarak said he shares close views with Sarkozy on the importance of pushing forward peace efforts, hoping that a peace deal ending Israeli occupation would be reached in a year.

As being partners in the Union for the Mediterranean, Mubarak said he agreed with Sarkozy to work for guaranteeing more support for peace negotiations to render them successful.

What is important is not to start direct negotiations but to continue them while respecting peace terms of references and international legitimacy to put the peace process on the right track, Mubarak said.

He welcomed France's proposal to hold Paris 2 conference to rally support for the Palestinian Authority efforts to complete the components of the woukd-be independent Palestinian state.

Sarkozy said he agreed with President Mubarak to hold the second summit of the Union for the Mediterranean in November to realise peace in the Middle East.

The summit will be an important chance as it will bring together Palestinians, Israelis and other parties concerned to look into ways of boosting Middle East peace efforts and achieve a two-state solution, he added.

The French leader lauded the deeply-rooted relations between his country and Egypt, saying the two countries have "distinguished" relations.

Thanks to the friendly ties binding Egypt and France, the Union for the Mediterranean was brought to daylight, he said.

Sarkozy expressed happiness that the US renewed its commitment to the direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, saying he believes like President Mubarak that peace in the Middle East cannot be achieved by one side alone but all sides should be engaged.

The French leader hoped direct negotiations would be successful, saying both the Palestinian and Israeli sides have obligations and duties and they know very well the basic elements they should focus on to reach a final soultion.

The question everyone should ask himself is how far the two sides have a political desire to reach peace, Sarkozy wondered.

The Israelis should know that if there is little hope in the peace process, they should do whatever it is possible to support this hope, he said.

If settlement activities were frozen during the proximity talks between the two sides so they should not be resumed at a time direct negotiations are being launched, he said, warning that resuming settlement building will be "illogic decision".

President Mubarak underlined the importance of the US administration's role in re-launching direct negotiations but he believes that it still needs the support of the European Union (EU).

The problem is difficult and it needs a strong support from the EU to guarantee that the peace process will continue, Mubarak said.

About Arab threats to resort to the Security Council, Mubarak said it is inappropriate to talk about this subject now, calling on everyone to wait and see what will happen.

As for the Israeli settlements, Mubarak said this issue needs a lot of efforts as there is a confusion among the Israelis themselves on whether to freeze settlements or not. More efforts should be exerted, backed by the EU, to convince the Israelis to stop settlements so that direct negotiations would continue.

He hoped European leaders would take part in the re-launching ceremony of the direct negotiations, slated for September 2.

The French leader also shared with Mubarak the same views as he believes that the US role is important but should be supported by the EU, the first donor to the Palestinians.

At the same context, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said at the French capital, Paris, on August 30th 2010, that President Mubarak's talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy aim at securing the success of direct Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations to achieve their aspired results within one year despite obstacles and complexities.

Abul-Gheit said the high-level coordination between Egypt and France was enhanced by Egypt's approval of Sarkozy's proposal to upgrade the Barcelona Process and turning it into the Union for the Mediterranean.

The Union for the Mediterranean (UFM), co-chaired by Egypt and France, needs more coordination on how to activate Palestinian-Israeli talks as both countries share identical views on the issue, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said.

Mubarak was keen to meet Sarkozy before leaving to Washington to coordinate and arrange with him for the coming phase, he said.

The Mubarak-Sarkozy talks also tackled the opportunity given to the UFM, with the launch of direct talks, to work on promoting relations between Mediterranean countries and the European Union, he added.

Means of promoting Egyptian-French relations, which are currently seeing huge momentum, would also be discussed between the two leaders, he noted.

The press conference, held following Mubarak-Sarkozy talks, is meant to give a chance for the two sides to express their viewpoints regarding direct Palestinian-Israeli talks and ways to re-activate the UFM, he added.

Drifting to direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis came only after US assurances were given and the momentum was generated from the Quartet Committee statement, he said.

He criticized those objecting direct talks, saying they eventually have achieved nothing.

They need to reconsider their stances, he said, stressing the importance of going ahead with the negotiations.

Egypt would never abandon the Palestinian people or leadership until the Palestinian suffering ends, he stressed, warning that the shrinkage of Palestinian lands day after day threatens the whole cause.

Syria does not hinder direct talks, but is only hosting a number of organizations that reject the approach of direct talks, he said.

Syria, itself, is ready to negotiate with Israel, he added.

He expressed hope that a unified Palestinian stance will be adopted, away from the narrow scope of self-interests.

The main condition for the talks to succeed is that Israel should show serious commitment in dealing with the Palestinian side and not to hinder those talks, he added.
(SIS)

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