Middle East/EU
Premature to recognise a Palestinian state, says EU
Article published on the 2009-11-17 Latest update 2009-11-17 10:15 TU
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt in Brussels, 16 November 2009
(Photo: Thierry Roge/Reuters)
"I don't think we are there yet," Foreign Minister Carl Bildt in Brussels Thursday, before chairing an EU Foreign Ministers meeting. "I would hope that we would be in a position to recognise a Palestinian state but there has to be one first, so I think it is somewhat premature.”
On Sunday, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat, said Palestinians would ask the UN Security Council to recognise an independent Palestinian state, with east Jerusalem as its capital.
The US said it is opposed to any unilateral move to seek recognition, pushing instead for negotiations with Israel.
Bildt said the EU, the biggest Palestinian aid donor, wants to help, but that independence may not be the right way at the moment.
"We are discussing other steps in order to demonstrate our support for the Palestinian aspirations more clearly than we have done before,” he said.
"There are lots of ideas, things are being discussed but we are not yet there," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
She said the focus should be on helping the US bring the Palestinians and Israel to the table.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is pushing for negotiations to restart as soon as possible, "to result in the creation of a Palestinian state,” he told the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds.
He is to meet Tuesday in Amman with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and with Israeli leaders on Wednesday.
“We need to find ways to overcome the current impasse,” he said.
Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian are stalled over the issue of continuing Israeli settlement building in the West Bank.
