Date of release : 09-05-2005

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

On May 09 2005, minister for Foreign Affairs and current president of the Council of the European Union Jean Asselborn took part in a Quartet meeting on the Middle East held in Moscow, alongside Javier Solana and Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The Quartet, which comprises European Union representatives, the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Russian minister for Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, discussed the support that the international community can provide to the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and to the relaunch of the Roadmap in order to find a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On behalf of the European Union, Jean Asselborn stressed that Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank "must be full and complete and must be in a manner consistent with the Quartet's Roadmap", while underscoring "the need to pursue efforts to find an overall and global solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." In this context, the President of the Council stressed the "necessity to offer the parties a clear political perspective."

The President of the Council called on Israelis and Palestinians to fulfil all their obligations under the Roadmap. He therefore called on Israel to "freeze any settlement activity and to dismantle any unauthorised settlements," and on the Palestinians to "continue their efforts to eradicate violence."

Finally, Minister Asselborn stressed the fact that no party "and emphasizes that no party should take unilateral actions that prejudge final status issues."