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EU to plead for U.S. Mideast drive
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) -- Bitterly divided on Iraq, the European Union will plead Thursday with the United States to give a new impulse to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking to avert a deeper crisis in the Middle East. Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, heading a EU delegation to talks in Washington with Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, said he would press for the immediate publication of a "road map" for the creation of a Palestinian state within three years. The plan, drafted by the diplomatic "Quartet" of the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations, has been kept under wraps for months at U.S. insistence to avoid pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during last month's general election and then his negotiations on forming a new government. But European officials say there is no excuse for further delay at a time when Arab and Muslim states accuse the West of double standards in preparing war to enforce U.N. resolutions on Iraq while doing nothing to enforce them on Israel. While acknowledging Europe's divisions on Iraq, EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said: "There is an absolutely clear view on the importance of not parking the Middle East peace process in a blood-soaked lay-by [siding]." Two close U.S. allies on Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, have pressed U.S. President Bush to launch a new Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative in parallel with the Iraq campaign. But EU diplomats acknowledge that the deep differences among European leaders on whether to go to war against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein have diminished Europe's collective influence in Washington. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, normally a one-man optimism machine, caused a stir this week when he admitted the 15-nation bloc had failed to find a common position on an issue of war and peace when it should have done. Some EU diplomats say they detect signs that after 50 years of encouraging European integration, the United States may be turning against efforts to forge a common EU foreign and security policy. "The U.S. has always alternated between dealing with Europe collectively and working with member states individually, depending on its interests. But I sense a new, ideologically driven effort by some in the [U.S.] administration to accentuate our divisions," a senior EU diplomat said. He pointed to comments by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dividing European nations into "old Europe" and "new Europe" based on their support for or opposition to war on Iraq. But U.S. diplomats said Rumsfeld was reacting to criticism by European leaders of U.S. policies rather than setting out to undermine the EU, noting that Washington had recently backed arrangements to enable the EU to use the assets and planning of the U.S.-led NATO alliance for its own military operations. The EU's efforts to play a greater role in Middle East peacemaking face potential Israeli opposition. During the election campaign, Sharon dismissed the Quartet, saying only the United States could act as an honest broker in the region. After talks with EU foreign ministers on Monday, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa appeared to play down EU pressure for progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. "What peace process? There is no peace process," he told reporters. "As far as I know, the Israeli side does not recognize the 'road map' nor does it recognize the Quartet." Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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