Text 1127, 143 rader
Skriven 2005-06-20 23:55:36 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0506207) for Mon, 2005 Jun 20
====================================================
===========================================================================
Joint Statement by the United States and the European Union Working
Together to Promote Peace, Prosperity and Progress in the Middle East
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release
June 20, 2005

Joint Statement by the United States and the European Union Working
Together to Promote Peace, Prosperity and Progress in the Middle East



At our Summit in Dromoland last year, the United States and the European
Union pledged our support to the governments and the peoples of the Middle
East who have expressed their determination to meet the challenges of
modernization, to advance political, social and economic progress, to
strengthen democracy, and to respect and promote human rights. We offered
this support in a spirit of partnership as well as respect and friendship.

Since then, we have strengthened our dialogue on our respective efforts
towards promoting progress and stability in the Broader Middle East and the
Mediterranean.

At the June 2004 Summit, we reaffirmed our commitment to a just,
comprehensive, and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
and our common vision of the co-existence of two states, Palestine and
Israel, by the creation of an independent, democratic, and viable
Palestinian state with contiguity in the West Bank living side by side with
Israel and its neighbors in peace and security.

Since then, we have witnessed the successful election of a new leader by
the Palestinian people. We are now at a moment of opportunity, and, with
our partners in the region, we must seize it. In order to achieve and
maintain a lasting peace, we recognize the importance of building a climate
of mutual trust and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians.

We endorse the May 9, 2005, declaration of the Quartet. We stress the
importance of a complete and peaceful Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and
parts of the northern West Bank in a manner consistent with the road map.
We urge the parties to respect their commitments and to refrain from
unilateral actions that could prejudge final status issues. We further
pledge our full support to the mission of the Quartet s Special Envoy for
Gaza Disengagement James Wolfensohn, and we will work with him and the
parties to promote viable economic and social development.

We support the holding of free, fair, and transparent multi-party
legislative elections in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, under the
scrutiny of international observers and with full freedom of movement for
candidates and voters, as another vital step forward on the path towards
building a reformed and accountable Palestinian Authority.

We desire that the Israeli and Palestinian people live in a secure and
stable environment. We affirm our support for the mission of General
William Ward and will pursue in close coordination our respective efforts
to assist the Palestinian security forces. As is required under the
roadmap, there must be effective action against terrorism, dismantling of
terrorist infrastructure, a freeze on all settlement activity, and
dismantling of outposts.

The United States and the European Union share the objective of a peaceful,
secure, democratic, and prosperous broader Middle East and Mediterranean
region. With close to 3 billion annually in grants and loans from the EU
and approximately $2.2 billion in assistance and loan guarantees from the
U.S., we are the major donors of assistance to the region.

Through our respective efforts, we seek to promote, in close cooperation
with our partners, human rights and democracy, increased access to
education and economic opportunities through modern and open societies,
closer integration within the region and with the global economy. Our
ongoing cooperation to promote peace throughout the region will help our
partners to reap the full benefit of their efforts and our support.

We welcome the accomplishments of the Barcelona Process which were reviewed
at the 7th Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference in Luxembourg ahead of
the 10th anniversary leaders meeting in November, as well as the U.S.
Middle East Partnership Initiative, launched in 2002. We reaffirm our
support for the G8 s Broader Middle East and North Africa initiative. We
welcome in particular the establishment of the Forum for the Future and
look forward to its next meeting in Bahrain this autumn.

We have instructed our respective experts on the region to intensify their
cooperation in order to strengthen further our support for reform and
democratic development.

We welcome the successful elections that have recently taken place in
Afghanistan, the Palestinian Territories, Iraq and Lebanon.

While notable progress has been made in a number of countries, significant
challenges remain. We welcome the amendment to the Egyptian constitution as
progress towards a more broadly-based representative government and
encourage the Government of Egypt to play a leadership role by opening its
forthcoming elections to international observers. In these, as in all other
elections, we stress the importance of freedom of speech, freedom of
association and unfettered access to the media, for all candidates.

We share the goal of a peaceful, united and stable Iraq and will continue
our cooperative efforts towards this end. The confirmation of the Iraqi
Transitional Government following the successful election in January
represents an important landmark in the political reconstruction of Iraq.
We condemn the terrorist acts of forces seeking to disrupt the lives of the
Iraqi people and the political transition process.

Two days from today, at the request of the Iraqi Transitional Government,
we will co-host a conference of nations to express international support
for Iraq s political transformation, economic recovery, and reconstruction,
and strengthening of public order and the rule of law, in accordance with
UNSCR 1546 (2004). We have worked closely together to prepare for this
important event and we will pursue these efforts in following up the
Conference. Working with the Iraqi authorities, the UN, and other relevant
actors, we will seek to contribute to the constitutional process and to
support the elections which will take place on the basis of the new
Constitution.

We recognize the withdrawal of Syrian military personnel from Lebanon as a
positive first step toward Syria s compliance with UN Security Council
Resolution 1559. We remain insistent that Resolution 1559 be implemented in
its entirety, including the disarming of all militias, and the complete and
full withdrawal of all Syrian intelligence operatives, as well as an end to
interference in Lebanon s internal affairs. We reaffirm our full support
for the United Nations efforts towards these ends.

We urge full cooperation by all parties with the independent international
commission of enquiry of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafiq Hariri, established by UNSCR 1595 (2005).

We welcome the events that have taken place this year in Lebanon in
furtherance of the democratic process, including the recent elections. We
recognize the inherent difficulties facing the new government and remain
committed to working with the people of Lebanon to strengthen democratic
institutions and promote peace and stability.

Once the Lebanese government has defined its reform agenda and should it so
request, we will consider convening an international conference to
consolidate support for the Lebanese people and the new government.

###

===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050620-7.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)