The second follow-up meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution started on Thursday morning at the sumptuous Egmont Palace in Brussels under a cloud of non-transparency.
The Alliance was initiated by outgoing High-Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, who said at the doorstep of the meeting today that he could not leave his job without arranging the meeting, this time co-hosted by the EU and Belgium, one of the EU Member States that supports the two-state solution.
In April, Belgium distanced itself from Spain and other countries that want to recognize a Palestinian state already now. Lahbib cited Spain’s pressure within the EU for recognition of a Palestinian state as being problematic. She indicated intent for a "rational" approach towards the timing and criteria for a two-state solution and, in turn, the recognition of Palestine.
The first Alliance follow-up meeting took place in Riyadh in October followed by a meeting for Israeli and Palestinian civil society organisations in Larnarca, Cyprus. The meeting today, attended by 90 delegates according to Borrell, is co-chaired by the outgoing Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib who has just been approved as Commissioner in the second von der Leyen Commission.
After his doorstep introduction, High Representative Josep Borrell took only one question and the Alliance meeting will end without any press conference with him.
According to European External Action Service (EEAS), the meeting in Brussels will see the participation of representatives of States and International Organisations interested in contributing to the implementation of the Two-State solution, supporting ongoing negotiations for humanitarian access, ceasefires, agreements on hostages and detainees, and UN and other relevant peace efforts.
The EEAS insisted that the meeting is not open for the press and no journalists were allowed to attend it to listen to Borrell’s opening speech. A photographer representing a media outlet in one of the Gulf States was told that he could not take any photos from inside the meeting because some delegates did not want to be photographed.
Normally, the so-called doorsteps before the start of European Council meetings attract many journalists who come to ask questions to Borrell and the heads of Member State delegations. This time a handful of media representatives turned up and only Borrell and Lahbib passed by. Lahbib, a former journalist herself, gave a brief speech but declined to take any questions.
Borrell devoted his speech to four topics: the urgent need to discuss the implementation of the two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the dangerous undermining from the inside of Israel’s democracy, the recent arrest warrants issued by the International Court of Justice (ICC) in the Hague, and the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
The Brussels Times asked High Representative Borrell about the parameters of the two-state solution. Will a future Palestinian state be demilitarized? Are the so-called quartet conditions (denouncement of terrorism, recognition of Israel, and the respect of previous Israel-Palestinian peace agreements) still relevant?
Borrell replied that the parameters already have been discussed in the past and declined to reply about the quartet conditions. The Global Alliance is not about any parameters but the implementation of the two-state solution, he said, without explaining the details of the implementation. He did not take any more questions from other journalists.
“We know how difficult it is to implement the two-state solution and that people do not like to talk about implementation,” Borrell said in his introduction, “but now is the moment to do it.” Israel has become a different country under the current far-right government and is “colonized” from the inside by the extremists.
He described the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon as a light of hope in an otherwise hopeless, disastrous and frustrating situation in the region, referring to Gaza. The Lebanese Armed Force must be strengthened and supported to fulfil is role, he said. There will be a phased deployment of up to 10,000 soldiers of the Lebanese army into southern Lebanon in parallel with the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
According to the agreement, which was published today, all non-state groups must be disarmed. The government army will have to confront Hezbollah, replace it in southern Lebanon, destroy all its military positions and infrastructure, destroy is weapons factories in Lebanon, and prevent any smuggling of weapons to it across Lebanese borders.
On the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against the Israeli Prime Minister and its former defence minister, he insisted that the EU must support them. The Israeli government has rejected the allegations in the arrest warrants as absurd and not backed up by evidence. Israel is no party to the ICC and claims that the court has no jurisdiction in the case.
Anyway the warrants should be suspended to allow for an appeal and for the Israeli judiciary system to investigate the allegations.
Update: A previous version of the article stated mistakenly that Belgium already has recognised the state of Palestine.
For a transcript of HR Borrell's press remarks and reply to the question ahead of the meeting, click here.
His spokesperson said at the current Commission’s last press conference on Thursday noon that the Global Alliance meetings and an international peace conference are two different tracks. The Alliance meetings aim at creating a momentum for the implementation of the two-state solution.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
