 | But if not, no problem with the EU ... |
KOBE - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Saturday called for the Hamas-led Palestinian authority to show its willingness to build peace before the EU funding row can be resolved.
Barroso said the European Union was keen to continue supporting the Palestinian people but wanted to see the “initiative” come from the Palestinian authority. “We hope this matter should be solved. But of course the initiative has to come from the Palestinian authority, to show their compatibility with the principles of peace in the region,” he said.
“We want to keep our support to the Palestinian people,” Barroso told a forum held by the EU Institute of Kobe University. “The problem is that now, there is a government in Palestine that does not subscribe so far to the principles of international community for peace,” he added.
| Nor have they bothered much with basic principles of international law, like accepting what the previous government did ... |
“European citizens are ready to support the Palestinian government if it is committed to peace, but not if it is not commited to peace,” Barroso stressed.
| Is that a new policy statement? Not being commited to peace never seemed to bother the Euros much before ... |
He brushed aside concerns that the European Union was failing to support a democratically elected government. “There is no contradiction, because we have accepted fully the Palestinian elections as free and fair,” Barroso said. “We were the biggest donors for the electoral process in Palestine. So we fully respect the result,” he said.
| "And we'll accept Hamas, too, just as soon as we can get the Americans to look the other way!" he added. |
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