Middle East Monitor / June 17, 2020
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Monday that European countries “encourage the Israelis and the Palestinians to engage in a credible and meaningful political process.”
In a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels, Borrell said: “We engaged in a strategic dialogue with Mike Pompeo on our relations and on the key foreign policy issues both for the European Union and the United States.”
He added: “On the Middle East Peace Process, we made it clear that it is important to encourage the Israelis and the Palestinians to engage in a credible and meaningful political process.”
Borrell continued: “We recognise that the United States’ plan created a certain momentum about a political process that had stopped for too long, and this momentum can be used to start joint international efforts on the basis of existing internationally-agreed parameters.”
The top EU official said that EU “stand ready to help and to facilitate such a process.”
Regarding the annexation, he said: “We were also clear about the consequences of a possible annexation for the prospects of a two-state solution, but also for regional stability.”
He concluded: “On that, I think that many Member States were very clear about it.”
The Israeli government is planning to annex the Jordan Valley and settlements in the West Bank on 1 July.
Palestinian estimates indicate that the Israeli annexation plan will cover more than 30 per cent of the occupied West Bank.
In response to his announcement, the Palestinian Authority said that it is no longer bound by all agreements with Israel, including those relating to security.
