Mubarak, solana review latest developments in ME
Egypt-European Union, Politics, 5/21/2001

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reviewed the developments of the deteriorating situation in the Middle East during his meeting today morning with EU High Comissioner for foreign and security affairs Javier Solana.

The EU official, following the meeting, said the situation is remarkably aggravating, pointing out that the EU wants to exert utmost efforts to tone down violence in the region and give peace a chance.

"I have participated in the Mitchell commission and I still believe that we have two documents floated, the Mitchell report and the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative," said Solana.

He called for immediate halt of acts of violence, embarking on confidence-building measures and returning to peace talks, noting this takes courage by each and every party.

"What happened in the past few days and the use of F-16 aircraft are not the optimal means to adopt peace in the region," Solana added.

On what is said about the EU's frail stand towards the efforts to bring about peace, Solana said that the EU has been involved since the very beginning in the efforts to establish peace, adding the EU participated in the Sharm El-Sheikh conference that aimed at settling the disputes, as well as the Mitchell commission, whose outcome will be officially announced Monday.

On the EU's change of heart towards the Middle East region, Solana said this is because of the current situation. Things can not go on this way. We are trying our best to reach an applicable solution, said the EU official.

On whether he believes that the current circumstances dictate a tougher stand on the part of the EU like boycott or sanctions, Solana said that all the statements issued by the EU call for adopting peace in the Middle East region and that is why we are seriously seeking this with all possible means.

Asked about the possibility of activating the Mitchell commission report, Solana noted that it is important to apply the outcome of the commission report.

The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, European peace envoy Miguel Moratinos,the Swedish Ambassador in Cairo and the acting chairman of the EU Commission in Egypt.

The tour we are currently making aims at achieving this, said Solana. The EU security official and his accompanying delegation arrived in Cairo Sunday on a four-day tour of the region.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt urges EU backing to end peace crisis   (5/14/2001)
  EU expounds on Egyptian-Jordanian initiative   (5/2/2001)
  European partnership agreement, to be signed soon   (4/30/2001)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search