(Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana indicated Friday that the EU is not yet ready to resume the channeling of funds directly to the Hamas-led Palestinian government. Solana met Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Brussels. Asked whether the EU would boycott the planned national unity government, Solana said: "We cannot boycott what doesn't exist. The government still has not formed."
He said the EU is waiting for information of the unity government. But he indicated that the new government must comply with the three principles of the Middle East Quartet: the recognition of Israel, the renounce of violence, and respect for existing international agreements. "We have two possibilities: the government of unity will be part of the solution or the government of unity will be part of the problem. I hope very much, from the bottom of my heart, that the unity government will be part of the solution," he told a joint press conference with Abbas. "The European Union is not boycotting the Palestinian people. We have said many times that we will never let down the Palestinian people, and we have done that." He said the EU spent more money on the Palestinian people in 2006 than in 2005.
Abbas pledged his commitments to the principles of the Quartet -- the European Union, the United States, the United Nations, and Russia. "We remain committed to the two-state solution, the recognition of Israel, renouncing violence and terror and reiterate our commitment to the agreements signed and also to the Arab peace plan in 2002," he told the press conference. |