EU WANTS WIDER MIDEAST PROSPECTS

After Lebanon, EU to look at wider Mideast peace prospects
Aug 29, 2006, 14:15 GMT

Brussels - European Union foreign ministers meeting in Lappeenranta in Finland later this week will look beyond the current ceasefire in Lebanon to prospects for ending Israeli-Palestinian hostilities, EU diplomats said Tuesday. Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the current EU presidency and who will be chairing the two day meeting on September 1 and 2, said he wanted ministers to 'take a hard look' at the Middle East peace road map drawn up by the EU, US, Russia and the UN.

The blueprint, which remains largely unimplemented, will need to be updated, Tuomioja said in a letter to EU foreign ministers ahead of the Lappeenranta meeting. The Finnish Foreign Minister also said he wanted to evaluate the EU's role and working methods in tackling crises in the Middle East in order to enhance Europe's impact. EU ministers should look at 'how we can make a real impact and who are our partners and how should we work together with them, said Tuomioja, in apparent reference to the EU's refusal to hold direct political talks with the Hamas-led Palestinian government. The Union has classified Hamas as a terrorist organization and says direct contacts will only be established once it recognizes Israel, renounces violence and vows to abide by past peace accords.

The EU's Middle East envoy Marc Otte also told the European Parliament that international crisis management to solve Middle East problems must be replaced by a longer-term strategy to end conflicts in the region. Otte said the international community must refocus on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict which he said had been put further on the back burner by the recent fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants. International reconstruction efforts in the region would be a litmus test for a political approach 'that goes beyond mere crisis management,Otte said. He also called on European governments to show 'a leading role in the diplomatic process' in the Middle East. Otte warned that the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian Territories had worsened and that the situation had a potential for deterioration.

New peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Government looked unlikely as the Israelis had been paralysed by the violent conflict with Lebanon, the EU envoy said. Finnish Ambassador Teemu Tanner said the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 'could serve as a catalyst to solve the various conflicts in the region. EU governments last week decided to send up to 7,000 soldiers as part of a reinforced 15,000-strong international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. The meeting in Lappeenranta will also look at Iran's recent response to a western offer to provide Tehran with peaceful nuclear technology in exchange for an end to uranium enrichment activities.

EU diplomats say there are no firm plans for the bloc's foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana to travel to Iran but added the 'the channels of communication' with Tehran were open. European governments have said Iran's reply does not provide a basis for opening talks on the trade and aid package and insist that Tehran must suspend uranium enrichment before starting negotiations. Tuomioja's letter also asks EU ministers to prepare for discussions on the bloc's strategic relationship with Russia. I would like to invite you to assess the EU's possibilities and means of influencing Russia's development in the mid and long-term perspective,' the Finnish Foreign Minister said. Plans for a new cooperation agreement with Russia must also be reviewed said Tuomioja.

The two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Finland kick-starts a series of key EU foreign policy encounters including talks later in the month with Asian leaders, including China and India and with southern Mediterranean foreign ministers. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur