The foreign ministers of Israel, Palestine and the Middle East will travel to Brussels on Monday to meet with their European Union counterparts.
Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt as well as the secretary general of the Arab League are also expected to take part in what a senior EU official called a “complex ballet” of meetings.
The EU official told reporters in Brussels during a background briefing on Friday that the aim of the invitation was to have “a detailed discussion with all participants – the Israelis, the Palestinians, the Arabs,” adding that by doing so ” a “political position for the European Union could be defined more precisely.”
The official explained that Josep Borell, the EU's chief diplomat, presented a number of goals for Monday's discussions, including an independent Palestinian state, ironclad guarantees for Israel and full normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries.
The official also noted that a two-state solution is “a reasonable, legitimate and achievable goal.”
A senior EU diplomat acknowledged in a separate briefing to journalists that there would be no concrete results from the meetings, but said that “any further solutions, be it for Gaza specifically or for the broader peace process, leading to a two-for.” “The role of our Arab friends is crucial to a government solution.”