In an address to the Arab League summit in Riyadh on Wednesday, Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), gave full support to the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to relaunch the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002. Bringing peace to the Middle East, he said, is “essential for a just and stable solution of the conflicts that affect the stability of the region and the prosperity of all its people.”
Mr Solana described resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict as “a priority task” and noted that “failure to rise to today’s challenges would put the Middle East at risk of “missing the train of human and economic development” taking place elsewhere in our globalised world.
He also referred to Lebanon, stating that the European Union “remains dedicated to protecting the sovereignty and the integrity of Lebanon, free from foreign interference and united in the pursuit of democracy. The European contribution to the security and the reconstruction of Lebanon is witness to the extent of our commitment to this goal. The EU will continue to demand the full implementation of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions to that effect.”
On the margins of the Arab League Summit, Mr Solana met Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, and Ziyad Abu-Amr, the Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs, to discuss the latest development in the Palestinian Territories and the European Union's support for the Palestinian people.
