BELGIUM: EU Foreign policy chief Solana says new Middle East envoy Tony Blair is key to Middle East peace

Europe's Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana welcomes moves for a Middle East peace conference, and says Tony Blair will play a fundamental role in reviving the Arab-Israeli peace process. Europe's Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana welcomed on Tuesday (July 17) U.S. President George W. Bush's call for a Middle East peace conference. And after meeting new Middle East envoy Tony Blair he said the former British Prime Minister's role would be pivotal in forwarding the Arab-Israeli peace process. Bush urged a conference be held later this year, and pledged renewed support for the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "I welcome the speech," Solana told journalists after talks with Blair ahead of a Middle East mediators Quartet conference scheduled for Thursday. "The speech ... not only talks and reassures about the two-state solution by the United States, but it goes beyond. It goes to see ... how this model, this vision of two states can be realised in practice on the ground. And I think that there are elements very positive in the speech, and you know that the European Union has been always in that direction. We hope very much to continue working with them and the Quartet to see how the political process can get started," he said. Aiming to break years of stalemate, Bush called for a meeting between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and their neighbours. He did not say where it would take place. Solana said Blair's role would be crucial. Blair began in Brussels a round of talks as he prepares for his first major meeting as envoy for the Quartet which includes the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations. The Quartet, which will convene in Lisbon on Thursday (July 19), is expected to endorse Bush's plan for a regional meeting. Solana said Blair had a mandate from the Quartet to try and push the Palestinian institutions, to rally the cooperation of the international community and to see how the two-state solution can become a reality. After the violent take-over of the Gaza Strip by Hamas last month, Western countries have rallied behind Abbas with promises of renewed aid. Their hope is to isolate Hamas, branded a terrorist group by the United States, and to spur peace moves between Palestinian moderates and Israel. Blair was later today due to meet with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. Blair will then head for Italy, where he is due to have talks with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema on Wednesday (July 18). ENDS

ITN Source | July 18, 2007

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