| Author (Person) | Beatty, Andrew |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.12, No.16, 27.4.06 |
| Publication Date | 27/04/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Andrew Beatty Date: 27/04/06 Diplomats will meet in New York on 9 May to discuss amendments to the EU-sponsored roadmap for peace in the Middle East, following massive shifts in Israeli and Palestinian politics in the last year. Some diplomats say the document, a cornerstone of EU involvement in the region, is now out of date and needs to be revised. "People are asking if the roadmap has the answers to the questions we face now," said one EU diplomat. "Of course it is not working as well as it used to," said another EU diplomat. The roadmap was initially drafted by the Danish EU presidency in late 2002 and was later taken by the Quartet (the EU, US, UN and Russia), which made it the focus of efforts at international mediation. The roadmap also placed the EU centre stage as a political player in the peace process, after years of being little more than a donor in the region. While few doubt the EU will remain an important player even if the roadmap is amended, sensitivities remain. "It is being mentioned more and more, but I am not sure that anyone has yet had the courage to raise the issue formally," said a diplomat from one EU member state, "[discussions are] very informal at this stage." The roadmap called for a negotiated two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a Palestinian state established under provisional borders by the end of 2003. Following Israeli's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in summer 2005, Ehud Olmert, the interim Israeli prime minister, has said he wants to withdraw from parts of the West Bank by 2010, unilaterally if necessary. "A negotiating process is not around the corner," said one diplomat. Those arguing for a change to the roadmap received a boost on Monday (24 April) when United Nations special envoy Alvaro de Soto told the Security Council that it was time to revise the text. He called for the international community to "address the new reality that both parties are on quite different trajectories from those they were on when the roadmap was drawn up". But he could face opposition. One well-placed EU diplomat warned of the dangers of attempting to change the text. "Clearly the possibility for pure implementation is not there...[but] reform is a complicated business. The Israelis adopted it with 14 reservations. I don't think anybody is thinking seriously about reforming this instrument today." But Russia's new-found voice in the Middle East has also strained relations inside the Quartet. The decision of Vladimir Putin to invite a Hamas delegation to Moscow, despite a Quartet agreement only days earlier to isolate the group if it did not meet certain criteria, was described at the time by one senior US diplomat as "surprising". Article anticipates a meeting of diplomats in New York on 9 May 2006 to discuss amendments to the EU-sponsored roadmap for peace in the Middle East, following massive shifts in Israeli and Palestinian politics in the past 12 months. The roadmap had initially been drafted by the Danish EU Presidency in late 2002 and was later taken by the Quartet (the EU, US, UN and Russia), which made it the focus of efforts at international mediation. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Countries / Regions | Europe, Middle East, Russia |
