Steven Vanackere meets Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere met Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. Their meeting took place during the Palestinian premier’s visit to Brussels, where he had already spoken with Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.
During their talks, Steven Vanackere and Salam Fayyad discussed the situation in the Middle East and the headway made in implementing the so-called ‘Fayyad plan’, launched in summer 2009. That plan is meant to pave the way for the institutions, economy and rule of law required for a future Palestinian state. The Palestinian premier said he was satisfied with the broad acceptance of the plan by the Palestinian people and with the progress achieved with regard to security, among other things thanks to the support provided by the EU Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS) in which Belgium is one of the participants.
Minister Vanackere and Prime Minister Fayyad also talked about the situation in Gaza and the EU’s efforts to find a solution that enables the blockade imposed by Israel to be raised. A few days before the trip to the region by Catherine Ashton, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Prime Minister Fayyad reiterated the willingness of the Palestinian Authority to work towards such a solution.
On the subject of the ‘proximity talks’ between Israelis and Palestinians set in motion by US Special Envoy George Mitchell, Steven Vanackere welcomed the Palestinian commitment to pursue them and stressed the importance of proceeding to negotiate “matters of content, rather than form” as soon as possible.
