site.btaForeign Minister Zaharieva Callsfor Common EU Approach to Middle East

Brussels, January 22 (BTA) - Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva on Monday urged the EU to apply a common approach to the Middle East peace process and to play an active part in it, including in the effort for intra-Palestinian reconciliation. Zaharieva was speaking at this year's first EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels which discussed the Middle East peace process and the EU's role in its resumption, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry reported.

After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last December, now the EU foreign ministers had a working lunch with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. They reiterated the bloc's position in favour of a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict and said that the status of Jerusalem should be determined in direct negotiations between the parties.

Zaharieva said: "Our message to President Abbas is that the efforts should be focused on easing tensions and encouraging negotiations."

The Foreign Affairs Council also discussed the future of the EU's relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) region after the Cotonou agreement expires in 2020. Negotiations on the framework of the future relations should begin by September 1, 2018. The current Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council will work for consensus and a common position of the bloc regarding EU-ACP ties.