EU's Helsinki summit welcomes resumption of Syrian-Israeli talks

In its final statement, the Helsinki summit of the European Union welcomed on Saturday the resumption of negotiations between Syria and Israel, and described the decision as brave.

The statement said the European Council hopes for the conclusion of an agreement which paves the way for resuming talks on the Lebanese track and reaching a solution on it.

The European states stressed that they unreservedly support the Middle East peace process. They also called upon the Israelis and the Palestinians to go on with the negotiations to implement the Sharm el-Sheikh accord and to prevent any unilateral action.

Peace talks on the Syrian track, frozen since February 1996, are due to be resumed this week in Washington from the point where the peace process had left off. Talks will center on the question of Israel's pullout from the occupied Syrian Golan.