EU Foreign Ministers meeting informally in Brussels on Friday and Saturday are to discuss among other topics the recent resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks and the EU’s participation in the peace process.
The German, French and Spanish Foreign Ministers are exploring the idea of a joint trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. The initiative comes after French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner criticized EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton for visiting China instead of the Washington talks last week.
Kouchner said it was "a shame" that Ashton had decided not to go to Washington to represent the EU. She had been invited to attend an informal dinner ahead of the talks on Wednesday 1 September but her office said it clashed with a trip to China.
Kouchner noted the EU’s political involvement in the region and its role as a top contributor of financial aid to the Palestinians.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday direct negotiations launched between the Israelis and Palestinians could be the last chance to secure peace between the two sides.
"Both sides and both leaders recognize that there may not ever be another chance," Clinton said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Clinton expressed optimism in the latest talks, and called those who doubted peace could be reached as "wrong."
"We have some challenges in the early going that we have to get over, but I think that we have a real shot here," she said.
However, in a message marking the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah, US President Barack Obama said developments in the region had given rise to new hopes of peace.
"At a time when Israelis and Palestinians have returned to direct dialogue, it is up to us to encourage and support those who are willing to move beyond their differences and work toward security and peace in the Holy Land," Obama said.
"Progress will not come easy, it will not come quick, but today we [have] an opportunity to move forward, toward the goal we share – two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security."
The EU informal ministerial meeting takes place under the EU Belgian presidency ahead of a EU summit next week during which the 27 heads of state and of government will discuss in particular the EU's relations with its strategic partners.