EU High Representative for the CFSP Solana calls for Gaza ceasefire during Mideast visit – EU press release/Non-UN document

COU9CIL OF

THE EUROPEAN UNION

Brussels, 9 January 2009

S004/09

Javier Solana,

EU High Representative for the CFSP,

calls for ceasefire in Gaza

during visit to the Middle East and Turkey

Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), travelled to the Middle East from Sunday, 4 January to Thursday, 8 January 2009 to discuss the crisis in Gaza and in southern Israel with regional leaders as part of the European Union’s efforts to secure a ceasefire and facilitate humanitarian relief for the victims of the conflict.

Before leaving for Egypt on Sunday, Mr Solana called for an immediate ceasefire and told reporters that the European Union would work with the other members of the international community to see how the ceasefire could be monitored and was ready to take part in the deployment of an international monitoring mission if required.

Mr Solana travelled with the EU delegation, led by the Czech Presidency, for meetings in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Territories on Monday, 5 January. He then travelled on Tuesday to Damascus and Beirut with President Sarkozy of France, for talks with President Bashar Al Assad of Syria and with the Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. On Tuesday evening, Mr Solana and President Sarkozy returned to Egypt for more talks with President Mubarak and Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif of Egypt in Sharm el Sheikh.

After the meeting with Presidents Mubarak and Sarkozy, Mr Solana told reporters that for the first time there was some hope that a truce could be called following the initiative of President Mubarak for an immediate halt to the violence and for talks in Cairo between Israel and Hamas. Mr Solana then remained in the region to continue the efforts to broker a diplomatic solution to the crisis and try to ensure that the parties agreed to the ceasefire proposal as rapidly as possible. He had further discussions in Tel Aviv, where he met, amongst others, the Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday.

In Tel Aviv, Mr Solana said in remarks to the press that he hoped that President Mubarak's ceasefire proposal, which had been favourably received by the Palestinian Authority and by the Israeli government and was strongly supported by the EU, would bear fruit very soon and could be built on. The initiative contained three main points: an immediate halt to the violence, opening the crossing points on the borders to allow humanitarian assistance into Gaza to reach the victims and addressing the concerns of Israel concerning security on its border and the smuggling of weapons. The EU was prepared, Mr Solana said, to help Egypt prevent arms smuggling along its border with

the Gaza Strip as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

From Israel, Mr Solana then travelled to Ankara for talks on Thursday, 8 January with President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The following is an edited summary of Mr Solana's remarks to reporters at a press conference following these meetings:

"As you know I have been in Ankara for some hours. I had the pleasure to be received by the President who offered me lunch and I had also a very good, long meeting with the prime minister. The reason for this trip is twofold: first to recognise the importance of your country, Turkey, in finding a solution to the dramatic crisis in Gaza. And the second is to discuss with them the manner, the terms, in which we can help to push a ceasefire which should be immediate. As you know, in the last hours, some ideas have been placed on the table, an initiative that originated in Egypt with President Mubarak after some conversations with the European Union and with President Sarkozy. We hope very much that that initiative, which has been welcomed already by several countries in the region, and has been welcomed by Israel also, will very soon bear fruit. The fact that representatives of Prime Minister Olmert are now in Egypt, talking with representatives of President Mubarak, permits us to see a little bit of light in a very difficult process, that we would like, as you can imagine, to lead to a ceasefire as quickly as possible.

Let me say that my conversations here in Ankara have been very constructive. The European Union and the government of your country are on the same wavelength. We analyse the process and the possibility of a ceasefire in the same manner and we are cooperating in a convergent manner to see how we can make these ideas which are now on the table become a reality.

Everyone is doing their utmost — all those who may have more influence — to see if we can in a short period of time announce that a ceasefire has been achieved. That will allow us to talk about other issues of a more permanent nature, the alleviation of the humanitarian situation by opening all the crossing points and also, in the foreseeable future to move the real peace process forward. We are far from that now and we have to concentrate now on how we can solve this crisis which is dramatic from the point of view of human suffering and all our efforts have to be continued.

Once again I would like to thank publicly, through you, the leaders of your country, of Turkey for their attitude vis-à-vis the EU, for their cooperation with us and also for their cooperation with other regional countries in order to achieve the objective of everyone of good faith which is to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible.

Thank you very much and I am sorry to have kept you waiting but I think it was worth it to have a longer conversation with your prime minister and your president, which as I have said, has been very useful for me. I would be happy to answer any questions.

Question

Mr Solana, you have said the main objective is to stop the struggle to reach a ceasefire but, without reaching any agreement regarding post-ceasefire conditions, how can it be done because both parties are important and without taking Fatah back to Gaza do you think there is a possibility for any kind of opening of the gates?

Solana

I think the objective is common to everybody: to put an end to this drastic situation. There are two basic ingredients: a ceasefire to stop the military action and to stop the rockets and at the same time the crossing points must be opened in order to alleviate the humanitarian situation which is extremely serious. Once we have achieved that we can look forward to achieving other things of a more permanent nature. What is very important now is to stop the fighting and to open the crossings so that humanitarian aid reaches the people in need.

Question

The EU was involved in the Rafah border crossing until 2007. Do you have any contingency standby plans whereby you can go into action as soon as the ceasefire comes into force?

Solana

Yes, the answer is yes. Let me be precise. We still have an important contingent in the region. We have our EUBAM Rafah operation on standby. We never withdrew all our people from the region. They are there. We always maintained people in case of rapid need. We have offered, from the very beginning, the possibility of returning, with a fully-fledged mission, as soon as a ceasefire is achieved. We would like to continue with the arrangements of 2005 which, as you know, were the arrangements under which we came but if at the end of the day they have to change, improve, adapt to new realities, we will be happy to continue on that basis. The people know that we are ready to return.

Question

I was wondering if, during your meetings today, you asked Turkey to exert its influence on Hamas so that they accept the ceasefire proposal?

Solana

I don’t think that that needs to be done, from my side. It is already being done by the government. The sense of responsibility of the government is very high and they are doing that already.

Question

The EU has said it is willing to cooperate and participate to prevent arms smuggling to Gaza. I was wondering if you could give us some details as to how far the EU would go in terms of equipment or providing troops?

Solana

As I said before, we will be happy to return. The mandate under which we were there was based on the agreement of November 2005. As I said, the agreement may change. I cannot elaborate now because it would be without knowing what the actual agreement would be but let me be clear that we are happy and willing to be part of the solution to this problem and if we are required to be deployed again we will be. If the terms of reference have to be changed we will see how they are changed and see if we have the capacity to do it but be sure that we are gong to do the utmost.

Question

You referred to Turkey's efforts in particular in this process. I was wondering if you can you elaborate on those a bit. We know that Turkey has been having some unofficial contacts already, and some official contacts, with Hamas. Can you elaborate a bit more on what Turkey has achieved so far especially in terms of the troops, if they are to be deployed?

Solana

I am not going to be the spokesman of the government of your country. You know and they explain very clearly every day what they are doing. I have to tell that in all the important preparatory work and decisions to see how we can move on the ceasefire Turkey has been always been taking part with a very constructive attitude and it is not for me to say anything else about what Turkey is doing but I can guarantee to you that Turkey is taking a very active position and I would like to qualify it as a very constructive position."