BICOM

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton told Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman yesterday that a number of EU countries would like to see Israel coming up with proposals of its own to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Ashton is currently taking part in a regional tour which will include visits to Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan as well as Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Ashton gave no indication that the EU would recognise a unilaterally declared Palestinian sate – telling reporters that her Palestinian interlocutors had not raised this issue with her.

Ashton also reiterated the goal of reaching a peace agreement by September saying, ‘It’s a timeframe that everybody has signed up to.’ The Quartet plans to meet with Israeli and Palestinian representatives in Brussels in early March, ahead of a Quartet summit in mid-March.