MIDDLE EAST: A ceasefire and the resumption of talks between Israel and the Palestinians could help to overcome the present impasse, the Austrian Foreign Minister said in Dublin yesterday, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
"The most important is that both sides get together again," Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner said. "All the elements have been on the table already in the negotiations in Camp David and also then Taba. On the basis of what was there one could reopen this issue."
The violence should be stopped, she said. "A ceasefire would be a very important first step." There should be "on the one hand a Palestinian state but on the other hand also the acceptance of the existence of Israel".
The EU had a role to play, she continued. "The impasse is so terrible and there is such a madness there that I think we the Europeans have to go for a viable solution. "Of course security has to be tackled and of course Arafat has to be impressed to do the maximum on the side of getting violence down, but there has to be in parallel to that a political horizon, a political outlook, because only if we can give a political outlook is there a chance of getting violence down."
She pointed out that the EU's approach emphasised security but also a "comprehensive" political process including economic aid. Dr Ferrero-Waldner met the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs during her visit.
Meanwhile, the EU's Spanish presidency called on Israel and the Palestinians to adopt measures to restore calm and return to negotiations to resolve the 17-month crisis "for which there can be no military solution."
"The presidency of the European Union is expressing its utmost outrage and condemns the new explosion of terrorism and violence in the region, which resulted in the past days in an intolerable number of dead and wounded including defenceless women and children," the EU statement said..