European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, under fire for not attending Israeli-Palestinian talks last week, on Friday said her decision in no way reflected a priority shift for the 27-nation bloc.
Ashton, appointed last December to strengthen the EU's profile and leverage on the diplomatic front, came under criticism for the no-show in the European Parliament this week -- a stand shared by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
Kouchner said it was "regrettable" that the Union was not directly represented.
"Europe is not condemned to be simply a financial partner. I think Europe should play a political role, in particular in the search for peace in the Middle East," he said.
"I chose, rather than being in the second row on the White House lawn, to be at the heart of our discussions in China", Ashton told journalists on Friday during a two-day informal EU foreign affairs meeting, known as a ‘Gymnich.’
Her talks in China, where Europe is hoping to build a strong strategic partnership, opened "really significant and important opportunities," she said.
"We are engaged in the Middle East peace process," she added. "We want to see this moving forward, we have a very very strong and clear role."
The September 2 meeting in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was the first for 20 months.
The historic tete-a-tete wound up with the pair agreeing to hold twice-monthly meetings, a move viewed as positive for peace by analysts.
Ashton's absence therefore irritated MEPs and diplomats.
"How can we justify our absence at the Israeli-Palestinian negotiating table given we are the region's biggest donors?" said a conservative leader at the European Parliament this week.
Stepping into the two-day Brussels talks, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn was of like mind.
"China is very important but in the future the EU must show its face," he said.
"If we weren't visible to begin with then we must show we are a strong actor," he added. "We must show that not only the Americans can find adequate solutions, and that without the EU there will be no definitive solution."
"It's humiliating to keep repeating that the European are donors," he said. "We have a role to play in the governance and economy of the Palestinians, an area where Europeans have more sensitivity than the Americans."
But Finland's Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb defended Ashton, saying she "is expected to be in 50 different places every day so you're going to have 49 people who are going to be upset. She made the correct decision in this particular case".