“The recognition of a Palestinian state is notb a goal in itself,’’ EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Wednesday in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, as MEPs started a heated debate on the issue.
‘’The recognition of the state and even the negotiations are not a goal in itself, the goal in itself is having a Palestinian state in place and having Israel living next to it,” she said.
But she stressed that this debate was ‘’timely and coming at a crucial time.’’
The debate follows the October decision by Sweden to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, the first EU member state to do so, but also the British and Spanish parliaments and Irish senate vote of non-binding resolutions calling on their respective governments to make such a recognition.
Mogherini said she has no answer for “the right steps to do and in which order.” She favored involving Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League in a regional initiative that recycles elements of a failed Arab plan from 2002.
Today’s debate showed that “our frustration and even our sense of desperation is deep and that we risk to be trapped in the false illusion of us needing to take one side,” Mogherini said. “We could not make a worse mistake than this.”
She called on Israel and the Palestinians Wednesday to resume direct peace talks. “The sense of urgency is getting higher and higher in the absence of a political context,” stressing. Mogherini, who recently visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories, told EU lawmakers.
“There has to be a direct dialogue.”
She said the EU was ready to “play a role” in moving the peace process forward and also reiterated her support for a two-state solution to resolve the conflict.
The European Parliament was initially due to vote on Thursday on the resolution tabled by the Socialist and Democrats (S&D) group to recognize a Palestinian state but it was postponed until December at the last minute. The postponement highlights the division among the 751-member European Parliament on on this sensitive issue.
During the three hours debate on Wednesday several MEPs urged the parliament to follow the lead of Sweden. “This parliamentary initiative can provide extra impetus which can finally bring talks to success and peace to the Middle East,” said Richard Howitt, Labour MEP for the East of England.
Other MEPs warned that such a stance could compromise the EU’s role as a neutral negotiator.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned against unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state without negotiations. During a meeting with the Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka on Tuesday, he called the recognition of a Palestinian state "a big mistake for peace."
"These twin needs of mutual recognition and solid security arrangements on the ground which are so essential for peace, these are not addressed by the European countries that unilaterally give recognition to a Palestinian state. I think that's a big mistake for peace, it encourages the Palestinians to harden their positions, not to compromise on mutual recognition, not to compromise on the things that are needed to achieve genuine security. I think these European positions actually push peace away and I believe that they make reaching a solution much harder," he said.