EU FOREIGN ministers are poised to drop an explicit endorsement of East Jerusalem as capital of a new Palestinian state in a statement today on the stalemate in the Middle East peace process.
Welcomed by Palestinians but resisted in strident terms by Israel, the reference was submitted to EU ministers in a draft paper from Sweden’s rotating presidency of the bloc. As talks continue on what is being billed as a significant expression of EU policy, the final text due from the ministers today was still not agreed late last night.
Israeli prime minister Binjamin Netanyahu is reported to have phoned several European leaders in recent days, including German chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish prime minister José Luis Zapatero, asking them to oppose the Swedish plan.
Meanwhile, Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad convened a group of European diplomats to ask them to support Sweden.
Sources briefed on the debate said last night the ministers would stop short of an explicit reference to a division of Jerusalem with the east of the city designated as the Palestinian capital.
Ireland backed the Swedish proposal, the sources said, but it was resisted by the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
While the final text will dilute the reference to Jerusalem, sources said ministers wanted to adopt a strong statement because they want to avoid being seen to capitulate to Israeli pressure.
In advance of the ministers’ discussion today, former president Mary Robinson and former European commissioner Peter Sutherland joined eight other international figures in a public call on the ministers to endorse the Swedish plan. Along with former EU commissioner Chris Patten and former European Commission president Romano Prodi, they are members of an informal group which previously called on European leaders to strengthen and support the Middle East policy of US president Barack Obama.
The Swedish plan, they said in an open letter to the EU ministers, offered an unexpected opportunity for advancing the peace process. “We believe the wording of this text is fair, consistent with the union’s long-stated position, and is in accordance with the road map. Far from disqualifying the EU as a mediator in the negotiation process, we believe this plan will play a key role in restoring Palestinian trust in the peace process and helping the Palestinian leadership return to negotiations with Israel.”
The group’s other members are former French prime minister Lionel Jospin; former Italian prime ministers Massimo d’Alema and Giuliano Amato; former French foreign ministers Hubert Védrine and Jean François-Poncet; and former Finnish foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja.
