Remarks by EU High Representative Ashton after EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on MidEast peace process — EU Press release/Non-UN document (excerpts)

Remarks by High Representative Catherine Ashton following the

Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, 10 October 2011

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And then finally over lunch we discussed the Middle East peace talks. As a follow-up to the Quartet statement which you saw in New York, I hosted a meeting of the Quartet envoys in Brussels yesterday. We discussed how to move forward on the action points within the statement and how to continue to engage with the Israeli and Palestinian partners to resume substantive negotiations as soon as possible. I will be speaking to President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu this evening, and the Quartet envoys will be in touch with the parties as well to invite them to meet in the coming days. We want to make sure that we really do get the progress that is so necessary if were going to be able to support the people of Israel and the people of Palestine into the future. And we support calls, and all ministers referred to this, to refrain from provocative actions and avoid steps that will go against our efforts to restart negotiations. Not surprisingly, the announcement – or re-announcement – of the 1,100 settlement dwellings in Gilo was mentioned by some, and deplored.

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