Date of release : 18-02-2005

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

Jean Asselborn, Minister for Foreign Affairs and current President of the Council of the European Union, received the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Friday 18 February 2005 in Luxembourg. Below a transcript of Jean Asselborn’s remarks at a joint Press Conference following the meeting:

“It is and was a pleasure for me to welcome my colleague Ahmed Aboul Gheit here in Luxembourg. Our discussions were very fruitful. The Egyptian Foreign Minister and I already had the opportunity to meet in New York and during my first visit to the Middle East in October last year. Both my visit to Egypt and my discussions with Ahmed Gheit provided me with a crucial insight into the politics of the Middle East. I am very grateful to my friend and colleague for the hospitality demonstrated on the occasion of that visit and for allowing me to meet with President Moubarak. My Egyptian colleague has just returned from a visit to Washington and we also exchanged views on the US engagement in the Middle East. 

As you know, Egypt plays an important role in the Middle East Peace Process. Our discussions focused mainly on the successful outcome of the Sharm el Sheikh Summit, which took place on 8 February 2005. The contribution of Egypt to this Summit was crucial. The main understanding reached at the Summit was that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere and that Israel will cease all its military activities against all Palestinians everywhere. The Egyptian Foreign Minister and I called for the full respect by the parties of their commitments in this regard. The restoration of confidence and this new spirit of cooperation provide the basis for the resumption of dialogue between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority within the framework of the Road Map. Concrete measures will now have to be taken towards the implementation of the Road Map. The Quartet [composed of the United Nations, Russia, the US and the EU], which is due to meet on 1 March 2005 in London, will continue to play an important role in assisting the parties in this process.

We also discussed the situation in Iraq after the elections that took place on 30 January 2005. We look forward to the formation of the Transitional Government.
We agreed that the constitutional and political process, as outlined in Resolution 1546, must be fully inclusive and bring in all components of Iraqi society in order to be fully successful.
The EU stands ready to assist in the constitutional process if so requested by the Iraqis and in full coordination with the United Nations.

Other subjects we discussed included the Euro-Mediterranean Process, and particularly the VII Euromed Conference that will take place in Luxembourg on 30 and 31 May 2005 as well as the opening of the Anna Lindh Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures in Alexandria on 18 April 2005.
We also talked about the reforms within the Arab League and the preparations to that end in view of the next Summit of the Arab League.
Finally, we also explored ways to strengthen EU-Egyptian relations in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy and the elaboration of an Action Plan in the course of the next few months.

Furthermore we touched on the meeting on 22 February 2005 with the US in Brussels. We will speak about a constructive future, about a constructive cooperation between Europe and the Americans and about re-launching the Trans-Atlantic relationship."