European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton started Thursday a Mideast trip that will bring her to Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, for high level meetings with government leaders and international partners including the United Nations, Arab League, African Union, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Her visit comes six months after the beginning of the 'Arab Spring' and at a key moment for the Middle East Peace Process. Following the trip, she will fly immediately to Luxembourg to discuss her trip with EU Foreign Ministers on Monday.
"I look forward to meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders and encouraging them to seize the opportunity and engage in negotiations," Catherine Ashton said.
"With the momentous events going on in North Africa and following President Obama's speech last month, it is more urgent than ever that we kick start the Middle East Peace Process,” she added.
Ashton has proposed a meeting of the Middle East Quartet (which comprises the US, the EU, Russia and the UN) to help relaunch peace negotiations before the summer.
In a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the EU policy chief calls on the Quartet "to adopt a statement" which would consolidate elements of US President Barack Obama's call for negotiations to resume on the basis of 1967 borders with mutual land swaps, coupled with firm security guarantees.
"This is no time for unilateral moves on either side, since this could lead to escalation," she wrote in what appeared to be a reference to the Palestinians' plan to seek UN recognition for a state of their own this September.
Israel is fiercely opposed to the step, with Netanyahu looking to convince at least 30 countries to vote against the proposal, media reports said.
The question of recognizing a state of Palestine at the UN looks set to divide EU nations, with Germany and Italy for the moment opposed, Spain in favour and France not excluding recognition.
"I believe that what is needed now is a clear signal to the parties, and a reference framework that should enable them to return to the negotiating table," Ashton wrote in the letter..
"It is critical that we make a gesture before the summer, because we need to contribute to a calming of a volatile situation."
On Thursday, the High Representative will meet Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judehin Amman.
On Friday, she will meet Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, and later Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
On Saturday in Egypt, Ashton will attend at the Arab League headquarters, a meeting of the so-called Cairo group, which brings together international organizations to support the democratic transition in a free and united Libya.
On Sunday, she will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, before flying to Luxembourg.