RAMALLAH, Thursday, November 1, 2018 (WAFA) – The European Union (EU) is showing more interest in the Middle East peace process, which indicates readiness to play a bigger role in it, Palestine’s ambassador to Belgium and the European Union, Abdul Rahim al-Farra, said on Thursday.

He told the official Voice of Palestine radio that the meeting of Middle East directors general in the EU foreign ministries and the recommendations they made on the Palestinian issue that were submitted for discussion in the upcoming meeting of the Council of European Affairs in Brussels is a significant development.

Farra said that once recommendations were issued to EU foreign ministers, it would send messages to the United States that Europe rejects most of its decisions on Jerusalem and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). He said the EU is trying to play a more active role in the political process.

He said that a comprehensive report was presented at the beginning of the meeting by the new EU representative to the Middle East peace process, Susanna Terstal, on the situation in Palestine, which focused mainly on how to protect the two-state solution, support UNRWA, the situation with the illegal Israeli settlements and the battle to prevent Israeli demolition of Khan al-Ahmar village east of Jerusalem in order to build a settlement on its location.

Farra stressed the importance of the European Union‘s recognition of the state of Palestine to save the two-state solution, adding that the appointment of a new representative to the peace process shows greater European interest in the political process.

M.K.