“Scepticism, pessimism, but the determination to press ahead”: that is the message on the crisis in the Middle East spelt out by the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, after his mission to Cairo, in the course of which he met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Mussa. Questions on the agenda were the political, economic and cultural relations between the EU and Egypt, but also an examination of the real possibilities of the success of the Road Map for peace in Palestine. The President of the EU Executive declared that “the EU will not suspend its own action in the Region, despite acknowledging all its limitations”. He also expressed his regret for what he considers the “lack of American pressure” for the application of the Road Map “which is not dead because it was never born”. Mubarak and Mussa, for their part, declared that they shared the EU position according to which the Palestinian government of Abu Ala must have full powers to combat terrorism and Israel must interrupt the construction of the wall in the occupied territories.
