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EU urges peace talks resumption

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Hungary’s Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, who holds the rotational chair of the European Union, told Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman yesterday that resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is a core issue and that time is running out. “Time is pressing, for both parties. The EU wants to help as much as it can with direct or indirect talks, and the parties can’t avoid discussing the core issues,” Martonyi said during the annual EU-Israel Association meeting in Brussels. European Union representatives said that due to the growing instability in the Middle East the imperative is higher for peace talks to resume with the Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Lieberman responded to the EU comments by saying that he did not see any linkage between Israel’s dispute with the Palestinians and the unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Libya. Lieberman nonetheless added that Israel hoped to see more efforts by the EU to bring the Palestinian side back to the negotiating table. Until now, the Palestinians have refused Israel’s calls to renew talks and condition any resumptions of negotiations with the complete freeze of settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

EU countries have taken an increasingly strong stance on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, insisting on the September 2011 deadline for the completion of talks. It is unclear however, how realistic this rigid timeframe is, given the lack of trust between the sides and the substantial gaps on the core issues.

Read more: Time for a peace process reality check?