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EU Hosts Palestinian Leader for Talks 04/20 06:22
More than 60 nations sent representatives to Brussels Monday to discuss with
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa stability, security and long-term
peace in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, as global attention largely remains
focused in the Middle East on the ongoing crises in Iran and Lebanon.
BRUSSELS (AP) -- More than 60 nations sent representatives to Brussels
Monday to discuss with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa stability,
security and long-term peace in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, as global
attention largely remains focused in the Middle East on the ongoing crises in
Iran and Lebanon.
Ongoing attacks in the West Bank and continued devastation in Gaza have
dimmed the prospect for a two-state solution, said Belgian Foreign Minister
Maxime Prvot ahead of the meeting Monday. He is co-hosting the meeting with
the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.
"We observe without naivety that the two-state solution is being made more
difficult by the day," Prvot said. "But Belgium and many European and Arab
partners continue to believe that this remains the only realistic path to a
lasting peace, for Israelis, for Palestinians and for the stability of the
entire region."
Nikolay Mladenov, the director of the Board of Peace created by United
States President Donald Trump, and a well-known figure in Brussels, also
attended the meeting.
Palestinian PM calls for unity
Palestinians in the West Bank say that Israel has used the cover of the Iran
war to tighten its grip over the territory, as settler attacks surge and the
military imposes additional wartime restrictions on movement, citing security.
Gaza requires "one state, one government, one law and one goal," Mustafa
said on Monday in Brussels.
"Our common objective of achieving one security structure under the
legitimate authority should guide the effective coordination between the
International Stabilization Force, the Palestinian Authority, security
institutions and other international actors. Security must not be fragmented,"
he said.
He also called for "the gradual and responsible collection of arms from all
armed groups and also the full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza."
Europe eager for relevance in Middle East
The 27-nation European Union is the largest single donor to the Palestinian
Authority, with its 90-year-old president Mahmoud Abbas ruling from Ramallah
for two decades. And while the EU has avoided directly joining the Board of
Peace, preferring the multilateralism of the United Nations and global legal
norms, the bloc is eager to not be sidelined in diplomacy in a volatile region
just across the Mediterranean.
Outrage in Europe over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza drove many EU
leaders to condemn Israel's war conduct and to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's government. With the recent election defeat of long-serving
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn, a close ally of Netanyahu, there might
now be enough political support within the bloc for stronger actions like
targeted sanctions on Israeli settlers or even the suspension of some ties to
Israel.
Hungarian election winner Pter Magyar said during his first news conference
on April 13 that he would seek "pragmatic relations" with Israel but also
rejoin the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for
Netanyahu. Orbn had defied that warrant while hosting Netanyahu in Budapest in
2025 and then started the process of Hungary leaving the world's only court for
war crimes and genocide.
Magyar said that he might not continue Orbn's policy of vetoing actions on
Israel -- a stumbling block that EU leaders critical of Israel have failed to
overcome over the past three years of brutal conflict in the Middle East.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez wants the EU to tear up its
long-standing Association Agreement with Israel.
In force since 2000, that agreement sets out the legal and institutional
framework within which the bloc and Israel conduct trade and cooperation. The
EU had found indications Israel had violated that agreement in its military
campaign in Gaza.
"We have nothing against the people of Israel; quite the contrary," Snchez
said in a post on X on Sunday. "But a Government that violates international
law and, therefore, the principles and values of the EU cannot be our partner."
Spain will table a formal proposal at an EU foreign ministers' meeting on
Tuesday to end the agreement with Israel, he said.
Spain, Ireland, and the Netherlands have voiced deep criticism of Israel's
military campaigns in the Middle East but have failed to garner enough support
to spur joint EU action.
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