Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas urged the EU to stick to its settlement guidelines, in a meeting with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy Wednesday in Brussels.
In a statement following the meeting, Abbas also called on European and foreign companies working in the settlements to stop their activities ‘’which contravene international law.’’
In July, the EU issued new guidelines prohibiting the disbursement of EU funding to research projects from entities in the Israeli settlements. Since then, negotiations have been ongoing between Israel and the EU on the issue as the guidelines threaten Israel’s participation in EU research and innovation programmes, such as the flagship Horizon 2020.
The guidelines are to go into effect on January 1014. The EU is Israel’s largest single source of public research funding, with Israel receiving and contributing to EU research programmes since 1996.
Abbas said his call to the EU regarding the guidelines ‘’is not directed against the State of Israel but rather against the settlements which were built on the territories of the Palestinian State occupied since 1967 and also the capital of Palestine, East Jerusalem.’’
‘’We want to live side by side with this state and build bridges for peace with it,’’he added.
The Palestinian Authority President, who earlier this week visited Italy, Lithuania, the country currently holding the six-month EU presidency, said and Germany, that despite all the ‘’obstacles put by the Israeli government and by the settlers’’, ‘’we will remain engaged in the peace negotiations and we will respect the 9-month timetable of US Secretary of State John Kerry.’’
In his statement, the EU Council President stressed that in the context of war in Syria ‘’there is no doubt that progress in the Middle East peace process, the establishment of a Palestinian State living side by side with Israel in peace and security, is more urgent than ever.’’
‘’Palestinian citizens and families must finally be given the right to live peacefully and prosper in a sovereign Palestinian State. Israeli citizens and families must have assurances that they will be able to develop their lives in security,’’ Herman Van Rompuy said.
He saluted ‘’the courage of both President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu’’ for renewing negotiations.
‘’The European Union fully supports this engagement. It is ready to assist in the process as much as required and contribute to the implementation of decisions,’’ he added.
‘’The EU is well-aware of the challenges that Palestinian and Israeli leaders are facing. ‘’Today more than ever, vision and courage are required if we are to overcome the hurdles that have been blocking the path towards a just and lasting solution. The parameters are well-known and both sides will have to make concessions.’’