World

EU pledges full support for Palestinian state

BRUSSELS, Thursday (Reuters) The European Union pledged to boost assistance to the Palestinians and praised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for keeping his word in restoring order since his election.

“The president can be sure the EU will be behind the Palestinians in achieving their dream of a Palestinian state,” EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told Abbas, making his first visit to Brussels since taking office in January.

Solana said the 25-nation EU would support Palestinian parliamentary elections, provide fresh economic aid and help the Palestinian Authority to reform its security forces.

European Parliament President Josep Borrell said that if the Israeli-Palestinian peace process made sufficient progress, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a global conference of parliamentarians which he will chair from this month, could hold a special session in the Palestinian territories in November.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU would help observe Palestinian parliamentary elections in July and provide 250 million euros in aid this year.

A day after attending a London conference to support reform of the Palestinian Authority, Abbas reaffirmed his determination to fulfil his commitments to restore order and said Palestinian society had been almost unanimous in condemning last Friday’s suicide bombing in Tel Aviv as harmful to peace.

“We reiterated our condemnation and we are convinced that this action can only retard progress in the peace process and has damaging consequences,” he told a joint news conference.

EU diplomats said Abbas had followed up in practice by arresting suspected accomplices of the bomber who killed four people at a Tel Aviv nightclub, and barring public mourning for the attacker, a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group.

Israel voiced disappointment on Wednesday that the London conference did not put more pressure on Abbas to dismantle what it calls “the infrastructure of terror” rather than seeking to negotiate with Palestinian militant groups.

Diplomats said an EU police mission was already on the ground in the Palestinian territories under British former Northern Ireland police chief Jonathan McIvor, preparing to train a reformed Palestinian police force.

Abbas had made clear that new Interior Minister Nasser Youssef would be the single contact point for all security forces, ending the multiple chains of command under the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, they said.