Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-01-Speech-3-091"
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"en.20060201.12.3-091"2
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".
Madam President, Mr Winkler, ladies and gentlemen
First of all let me thank you all for the kind words on the elections and the observations. All credit goes to Mrs De Keyser and her team as well as to Mr McMillan-Scott and his team. Credit also goes to the Palestinian people, who have shown that they can elect in a free and fair way, even if we are not always satisfied with the result.
We now have to agree to respect the will of the Palestinian people. As we said in the Quartet statement, the Palestinians have now voted for change. We know why. At the same time, they desire peace. Polls show that there is a slight majority in favour of peace with Israel. This has to be the way forward. We are ready to continue to support the Palestinian people. We wish to do so, just as we have done until now. There is no other organisation other than the European Union, and particularly the European Commission, that has done so much for the Palestinian people for years.
However, being elected and taking office is also a matter of political responsibility. That is why we ask – and even expect – that a new Palestinian government confirm its commitment to peace through peaceful means, in particular though the three conditions that were mentioned in the Quartet statement: non-violence, the recognition of Israel and the respect of previous obligations, namely the Oslo agreement and the roadmap. These clearly show a commitment to peace, to a two-state solution, but also to an ambitious reform agenda for the Palestinian Authority. I very much wanted to mention this.
I would also like to say that the policy of the Quartet – and here we are really working together – is a very balanced one. I heard a few Members say that we were one-sided: those who have not yet seen the latest Quartet statement should please look at it. I would like to refer to the last paragraph where we say: ‘the Quartet reiterates its commitment to the principles outlined in the roadmap and the previous statement, and reaffirms its commitment to a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict based upon UN Security Council resolutions Nos 242 and 338’. I think this, per se, reflects our support for mutual obligations.
Let me reiterate that our first objective must now be to ensure that Israel transfers Palestinian tax revenues to the Authority. More precisely, this is Palestinian money. We do not think it would be constructive for Israel to withhold it at such a crucial time. I will also speak to the Israeli Authorities about this and I know other colleagues in the Quartet will also do so. I very much hope that funds will be transferred soon, because they would cover a good proportion of the salaries of the Palestinian Authority employees and would also provide much-needed income for the families. That would be a humanitarian gesture that Israel could make at a crucial time.
I am also reassured by the President of the World Bank, who is of the same opinion. I met Mr Wolfowitz yesterday in London. Today he has been quoted as saying that ‘it will help the whole process if the life of the average Palestinian improves; we ought to be the last people to disengage’. I very much welcome this statement and hope it will help. However, this is also why the members of the Arab League should honour their pledges of support as soon as possible. Yesterday, at the London Conference for Afghanistan, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik and I both took every opportunity to talk to the different Arab representatives, in order to make that possible.
We therefore have to be very vigilant in this period. It is a crucial period because we also have elections in Israel. We want the peace process to be able to continue in the future. I therefore invite Members to remain engaged with us. Despite its difficulties, we would like to make the path to peace less bumpy in the future."@en1
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