BICOM

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said yesterday that a vote in the United Nations General Assembly in September on recognising a Palestinian state is not certain, and that the wording of the resolution has yet to be finalised. Ashton told Haaretz that the European support for the resolution would depend on the wording of the resolution. “It’s quite possible that that there could be a vote at the UN where the European Union has no difficulty in voting for that,” she said.

Ashton visited the region last week and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Before her visit to the region she sent a letter to members of the Quartet proposing that they accept US President Barack Obama’s 19 May speech as a basis for peace talks – 1967 borders with mutually agreed land swaps, security guarantees and negotiations on refugees and Jerusalem to be deferred until later. Ashton added that the EU has been making great efforts to push forward with Middle East peace talks, but recognised that the Quartet was the crucial body to move the issue forward. Ashton also said that it was important that if the Israelis and Palestinians moved ahead with direct talks that they get the necessary support from the international community during the process.