By Xinhua,
Amman : Visiting EU senior official Javier Solana said here that the European Union would use the political pressure to achieve what can be achieved in the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, the official news agency Petra reported on Sunday.
The international community and the EU should help maintaining the continuity of negotiations, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and EU’s Secretary-General of the Council Solana said on a press conference in Amman following a two-day visit.
Negotiations, he affirmed, must have a timetable. Despite of the U.S. and Israeli elections, there is still hope to reach a tangible development before the end of 2008, he added.
“Momentum of the negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis will continue until next year, if nothing was achieved this year,” Solana said.
Asked about the EU’s role in ending the Israeli blockade on Gaza Strip, Solana said that “our policies and goal is to open border crossings before people and goods, but opening these crossings is not our responsibility.”
Earlier, Solana met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Prime Minister Nadir Al Dahabi and Foreign Minister Salaheddin Al Bashir for talks on the peace process and relations between regional countries and the EU.
Solana has concluded a regional tour that took him to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank, Israel and Jordan.