Official speeches and statements of july 22, 2016
Foreign policy statements / Key references
1. Israel – Palestinian Territories – Meeting between M. François Hollande, President of the Republic, and Mr Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority – Communiqué issued by the Presidency of the Republic
(Paris, 22/07/2016)
The French President had a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority.
Mr Abbas extended his condolences and expressed his support to France in response to the “unspeakable, abominable” crime in Nice.
The Head of State expressed his concern about the fragility of the situation in the Middle East and the escalation in violence. With the Quartet's latest report showing that the two-state solution is threatened by continued settlement activity, creating a political way forward is a matter of urgency.
The French President confirmed France's commitment to continuing the process created by the Paris ministerial meeting of 3 June and its approach vis-à-vis the next stages, which should lead to the holding of an international conference.
France will spare no effort to galvanize the international community into restarting the peace process./.
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MIDDLE EAST
During the meeting with John Kerry, we talked about the Middle East peace process, the need to create negotiation conditions again which restore meaning to the prospect of two states, which is unfortunately becoming more remote by the day and leading to despair. So – and France took the initiative on this – we must go on bringing together all those who want to help achieve this objective again.
So we mentioned the Quartet report and I recalled the decisions taken in Paris on 3 June to set up working groups focusing on three areas in particular: economic incentives in the event of a peace agreement for the two parties, strengthening the future Palestinian state's capacity, and the work with Palestinian and Israeli civil societies. We appreciate the huge scale of the task, of course, but we absolutely mustn't be put off, because restoring hope is essential, and everyone can contribute to this.
We welcome the commitment of John Kerry, who is sparing no efforts, and the Quartet's work, which has strengthened the French initiative and has the same goal. (…)./.
Country: France
Subject: International presence, Middle East situation, Peace process, Peace proposals and efforts, Settlements, Statehood-related, Terrorism
Publication Date: 22/07/2016