Abbas wins EU backing for Palestinian capital
THE European Union assured President Mahmoud Abbas it supported his ambition to have East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state, in the bloc’s latest rejection of US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
At a meeting in Brussels with EU foreign ministers, Mr Abbas repeated his call for East Jerusalem as capital as he urged EU governments to recognise a state of Palestine immediately, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region.
While Mr Abbas made no reference to Mr Trump’s move on Jerusalem or US Vice-President Mike Pence’s visit to the city on Monday, his presence at the EU headquarters in Brussels was seized on by European officials as a chance to restate opposition to Mr Trump’s December 6 decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Mr Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, called on those involved in the process to speak and act “wisely”, with a sense of responsibility.
“I want to reassure President Abbas of the firm commitment of the European Union to the two-state solution with Jerusalem as the shared capital of the two states,” Ms Mogherini said.
Before Mr Abbas’ arrival, she was more outspoken, saying: “Clearly there is a problem with Jerusalem. That is a very diplomatic euphemism,” in reference to Mr Trump’s position. But Ms Mogherini said she still wanted to work with the United States on Middle East peace talks and had discussed ways to restart them late last year with Mr Pence and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
She played down the timing of the vice-president’s visit to Israel when Mr Abbas was in Brussels, saying it was a coincidence.
Deputy German Foreign Minister Michael Roth told reporters that Mr Trump’s decision had made peace talks harder but said all sides needed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr Abbas also struck a more diplomatic tone than in his recent public remarks, including earlier this month when he said he would only accept a broad, internationallybacked panel to broker any peace talks with Israel.
“We are keen on continuing the way of negotiations,” Mr Abbas said. “We are determined to reunite our people and our land.”
In another gesture of support, EU foreign ministers discussed whether to increase the EU’s aid to the Palestinian Authority, after the United States said last week it would withhold about half the initial aid it planned to give the UN agency that serves the Palestinians. No decisions were taken.
But Mr Abbas’ call for the European Union to immediately and officially recognise the state of Palestine won little support in the lunch meeting, diplomats said.