EU's top foreign diplomat meets Israelis and Palestinians at two-state solution conference

The EU’s outgoing top foreign representative was in Cyprus on Saturday to meet with Israeli and Palestinian civil society organisations promoting a two-state solution, known as the Geneva Initiative. 

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell was the keynote speaker at a conference aiming to promote a solution in the Middle East through the creation of an independent Palestinian State. 

Borrell saluted the “efforts of the organisations which sometimes are misunderstood” in their own communities and insisted on the need to get a ceasefire in Gaza immediately. 

“The price of no peace in the Middle East has become exorbitant not only for the people who are dying below the bombs but for the whole region and maybe the whole world. Inaction isn’t an option. Wait and see is not a policy.” 

“Providing the same response to the same problems once and again without bringing a solution is no longer possible." 

“I could have been in Brussels,” he told those at the event, “I wanted to be here because you are on the right side of history.” 

“The fact that Palestinians and Israelis are gathering together and trying to imagine how to overcome this current situation has a strong value.” 

When asked about the invitation which Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban extended to Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Hungary despite the ICC warrant calling for his arrest, Borrell replied that it goes against EU member states obligations. 

“If you are a member of the European Union, you are committed to implementing the decisions of the court.” 

Following his speech in Cyprus, Borrell will travel to Lebanon on Sunday to hold bilateral talks with some of the country’s politicians as well as United Nations representatives. 

The trip will be an occasion to continue to discuss a possible way towards a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, according to a press release from the EU, as well as a longer-term peace process based on the two-state solution. 

Earlier in the week Borrell visited Jordan, saying the country deserves "our full support" – including in its efforts to advance peace and stability in the region. 

The talks come amidst the background of a catastrophic situation in Gaza and military escalation in Lebanon.