Protests force EU to drop Jerusalem plan

The European Union backed away on the 8 December 2009 from demanding that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state after a proposal along those lines from the bloc’s Swedish Presidency ran into strong Israeli objections.

EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, called instead for negotiations to settle Jerusalem’s status and made clear that they envisaged the city as the capital of two countries – Israel and the future Palestinian state.

The EU position represented a compromise between Sweden and several other countries that wanted the 27-nation bloc to make a firm commitment to the Palestinians on East Jerusalem, and other countries such as the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy that preferred a less overtly anti-Israeli stance.

ESO: Background information: Israel attacks Sweden on Jerusalem plan http://www.europeansources.info/record/israel-attacks-sweden-on-jerusalem-plan/

BBC News, 8.12.09: EU: Jerusalem should be capital of two states http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8401913.stm

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 8.12.09: Council conclusions on the Middle East Peace Process http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/111829.pdf

Deutsche Welle, 8.12.09: EU wants Israel and Palestine to share Jerusalem as capital http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4994660,00.html

France24, 8.12.09: EU urges Israel to share holy city as the capital of two states http://www.france24.com/en/20091208-jerusalem-share-capital-two-states-european-union-urges-israel-palestinians

EurActiv, 9.12.09: EU says Jerusalem should be capital of two states http://www.euractiv.com/global-europe/eu-jerusalem-capital-states-news-223181

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