EU ready to take central role in peace process, says Mogherini

European Union Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini says Brussels wants to take a central role in forming an international framework to pave the way toward establishing a Palestinian state.

She adds that the US, as well as the other members of the Middle East Quartet Russia must also be a part of this multilateral framework.

Mogherini says Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas agrees that such a framework would includes the United States.

“We affirmed our conviction that the framework has to be multilateral. We will continue working within the Quartet, which includes the US, Russia and the UN, enlarging this to a few Arab countries, and possibly Norway,” she tells reporters.

“The Palestinian president was perfectly fine with this idea of not having the United States as the only interlocutor for the peace process. But of having a multilateral framework in which the European Union has a central role, that is together with others including our partners in the quartet, including the United States,” she says.

“We will follow up in the coming weeks,” Mogherini adds.

She says the EU is “looking into ways” to increase financial support to the Palestinian Authority.

Mogherini also says that EU members have discussed the idea of having an “association agreement” with the Palestinians and the issue will continue to be discussed.

— Dov Lieber