President Shimon Peres is scheduled to address the European Parliament in Strasburg at noon on Tuesday wrapping up a week-long tour in Europe which included stops in Brussels and Paris.
Prior to standing before the 754-member parliament representing the 27 countries that are encompassed under the banner of the European Union, Peres will be welcomed by Martin Schulz, the president of the parliament, at an official state ceremony. The two will then have a private meeting before Peres mounts the podium to deliver a foreign policy speech, after which he and Shulz will conduct a media conference. They will then have lunch with 70 key figures of the European Parliament.
In his address, Peres will ask for the Europeans to list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, warn that time is running out for the thwarting of Iran’s nuclear program and caution of the dangers inherent in Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons.
The president will return home in time to host the traditional reception for the new incoming government this week.
In his absence, those members of his staff who did not travel abroad with him have been busy preparing for US President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit.
Soon after his arrival at Ben- Gurion Airport, Obama will head for Jerusalem for an official welcoming ceremony at the President’s Residence and will return there the following evening for a state dinner in his honor at which Peres will confer on him the Presidential Medal of Distinction.
Obama will also attend an earlier state dinner on the evening of his arrival hosted by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.