Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-14-Speech-3-465-000"
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"en.20110914.29.3-465-000"2
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"Mr President, Minister, the recognition of a Palestinian state is justified: it is a legitimate demand that we naturally support. However, it is because I believe that this cause is just that I also think that a solution for the Middle East urgently requires the negotiations to start up again.
One thing we do know, at least since the Oslo Accords, is that unilateral action has never ever helped the peace talks to move forward. Moreover, the mediators in this conflict – the Quartet and the Council – are very much confirming that this is the case. Just yesterday in Cairo, Baroness Ashton pointed out that the European Union considers the negotiations to be the way forward, and this was reiterated by our Council representative in his opening remarks.
Already I hear some of my colleagues, like many Member States, unreservedly supporting this Palestinian initiative in principle, even though there is no framework, text or plan on the table at present. In other words, a kind of blank cheque is being given to an ‘Operation Palestine’, a ‘United Palestine’ I should say in passing, which does not match the reality on the ground, where enemy brothers are reconciled, but – to cut a long story short – are reconciled in appearance only.
In reality, my fear is that unilateral action will permanently paralyse the negotiations by eliminating any room for compromise and by freezing the non-negotiated red lines, on which the Palestinian leaders will no longer be willing or able to move an inch. I fear this unilateral action turning into sterile diplomatic clashes, as the French Foreign Affairs Minister pointed out recently. There is no common European position at present precisely because there is no text – and I concur with Ms De Keyser and all the other speakers who have said the same – nor resolution, with only a few days left until the expected announcement.
However, I am convinced that everything will hinge on this text, on what the Europeans will convince the Palestinians to include in it, but also not to include in it. This just shows the influence that the European Union can and should have, provided it sings from the same hymn sheet of course. It also shows how difficult and ambitious our task is.
In the current state of affairs and with nothing on the table, I can only hope that this very belated text will enable the European Union to truly play its role, because I believe in a two-state solution, a negotiated solution, because I believe first and foremost in dialogue – I shall conclude, Mr President – a difficult dialogue, certainly, punctuated with agonising but necessary conflicts, particularly over the settlements."@en1
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