Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-26-Speech-3-105"
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"en.20050126.7.3-105"2
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"Mr President, Mr Solana, Mrs Ferrero-Waldner, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union has vital interests in the Middle East and the Middle East is now an important element in our neighbourhood policy.
The key to stability and economic growth in the region lies in a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The deadlock in recent years has prevented the European Union from making its influence felt, unfortunately confirming the US diplomatic joke of ‘we play you pay’, meaning ‘we have political power and you pick up the bill’.
We have been through a terrible year: in the United States we saw the election year make George Bush focus entirely on the war in Iraq; in Israel the Sharon government shut the door on negotiations; and in Palestine Yasser Arafat’s personal and political troubles paralysed the National Authority.
That impasse cost dear in terms of human lives, misery and despair. Many of us wondered whether there was still room for hope and whether any dialogue was possible. Today, as Mr Solana has explained, a window of opportunity has opened which we must make use of. The United States has a President in his second term of office who can devote himself to the Israeli-Palestinian question with some room for manoeuvre. The new Israeli Government, with figures like Shimon Peres, is choosing dialogue. In Palestine we are pleased to have helped in and witnessed the first presidential election, won by Mahmoud Abbas, who now enjoys strong popular and international legitimacy. We support his initial measures, such as the attempt to impose a cease-fire on the radical groups.
It is time for the Union to make itself heard loud and clear. The Union must act as a force for stability, and no other player, not even the United States, has the assets that we have, in other words the political stability and the resources to support economic growth in the region. It is time to use these assets and to relaunch the roadmap and the Quartet. If we believe, as I do, in the Union’s foreign policy and in Europe as a global player, now is the time to put our ideas into action."@en1
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