Top EU diplomat heads to Mideast to reboot peace talks

Mogherini says Israeli-Palestinian status quo ‘not an option,’ Europe ready to play ‘major role’ in restarting negotiations

By AP and ToI Staff 19 May 2015, 4:15 am Edit

European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini speaks during the informal Ministerial meeting gathering foreign ministers from the European Union and the southern Mediterranean nations in Barcelona on April 13, 2015. (AFP/LLUIS GENE)

The European Union’s top diplomat said Monday that she’s going to the Mideast to try to revive the moribund peace process, and to challenge Israel and the Palestinians to share their ideas on how to break the deadlock.

Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said, “I believe that one thing is clear to everybody in the region, that the status quo is not an option.”

“My very early visit has a political meaning,” Mogherini told a press conference, according to a Reuters report. She took over as the head of EU foreign policy last November, taking over for Catherine Ashton.

Mogherini was set to meet with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during her two-day visit.

Some European leaders were alarmed by a remark by Netanyahu before the March 17 elections that there would be no Palestinian state while he’s premier.

Mogherini said her trip this Wednesday and Thursday will stress that the EU is “ready to play a major role in relaunching the peace process,” but with an end result that includes Palestinian statehood.