With the aim of relaunching the negotiations to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a mission of the European Union composed of the Belgian presidency of the Council, Romano Prodi and Javier Solana made a visit in recent days to Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The visit of the European delegation coincided with the declarations of US President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell concerning the renewed American commitment to the search for peace in the Middle East. In the course of their talks, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt emphasized the common approach shared by the EU and the United States as regards the peace process, based on the twofold objective of the creation of an independent and democratic Palestinian State and a final accord that would guarantee the absolute security of the State of Israel. Reaffirming the need to involve the international community and all the Arab countries of the region in the negotiations, the European representatives made an appeal to the parties in the conflict to “ commit themselves to implementing all the accords they have signed” and to continue along the road of dialogue on the basis of the ideas and proposals covered by the previous discussions and negotiations and in conformity with the existing Resolutions of the United Nations. In particular, the EU mission expressed the hope that Israelis and Palestinians would take steps to implement the Mitchell Report and the Tenet accord on the end of violence and on the immediate halt by the Sharon government to the settlement of new colonies in occupied territories. The European Union will present an official initiative on the matter in the near future. G.A.G.
