Eduardo González
The acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, proposed yesterday before his EU counterparts the convening of an international peace conference in the Middle East that would allow to reach “a definitive peace through a two-state solution”. Although he did not propose any specific venue, he did assure that, “of course, Spain will always be willing to host such a peace conference.”
“Spain has put itself at the head of the countries that have opted for solutions aimed at a definitive peace, in which all the actors in the region participate and which must necessarily involve a two-state solution, with a State of Israel and a State of Palestine living side by side in peace, good neighborliness and security,” Albares declared at the press conference following the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), held in Luxembourg.
“In this sense,” he continued, “I have put forward the proposal to convene an international peace conference where the parties and the entire international community are represented and where progress can be made towards that definitive solution to the conflict when the time comes for the end of violence.” “It is clear that the violence must end before the conditions can be met for a conference of this kind to be held,” he said.
According to Albares, the objective of this conference is to help “consolidate a definitive peace.” “That definitive peace for Israel and Palestine, for the whole region, will only come through the two-state solution, and that is precisely the objective of this proposal that I have put on the table today, that definitive peace comes and that it materializes through the two-state solution,” he insisted.
Regarding the possible venue for the conference, Albares admitted that he had not proposed “any specific place”. “It matters little where it takes place if it is successful”, but, “of course, Spain will always be willing to host such a peace conference, we already did it in 1991, but the important thing is the final objective”, he added.
The acting minister also reminded his European counterparts that on November 27th the ministerial meetings of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the EU-Southern Neighbourhood will be held in Barcelona, two meetings that “are important, but in the light of current events, and although it is impossible to glimpse what the conditions in the region and in the area will be on November 27th, they take on a practically vital importance”. “In the UfM, Israelis and Palestinians are represented on an equal footing, and it represents a great opportunity to build bridges, and this I have pointed out around the table,” he stated. “It is impossible to know who will or will not come to Barcelona,” but “hopefully Israel and Palestine will come and it can be a place to build bridges and to look to the future,” he added.
However, Albares wanted to make it clear that the Barcelona meetings and the possible international conference proposed by himself “are two different forums”. “On November 27, the ministerial meeting will take place in Barcelona whatever happens, as it does every year,” while “the international conference can only take place once the violence is over,” he explained.
Humanitarian pause in Gaza
On the other hand, Albares also defended before the EU partners “the need for a humanitarian pause” in the Gaza Strip. “We have all agreed that, at this time, the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza needs such humanitarian aid,” he assured. “As the EU Presidency, I was the first to take the floor and I supported the idea of a humanitarian pause,” he continued. “There have been some delegations that have not made reference to it, but it has been clear that there is a consensus on the need to maintain and increase and for there to be access to European and bilateral humanitarian aid to Gaza and, of course, the humanitarian pause seems to me to be the best formula for this,” he concluded.
“Spain’s position from day one is that, at this moment, what Palestine needs is more aid, not less,” said Albares. “We have been at the forefront of that attitude and we have raised our aid to Palestine to 21 million euros and we are working to, very soon, be able to make an announcement that will double that amount,” he said.
Not forgetting Ukraine
At yesterday’s FAC, the foreign ministers also discussed Russia’s aggression against Ukraine “focusing on security commitments”. In this regard, Albares warned his European colleagues that “the outbreak of violence in the Middle East should not divert us one iota from our political commitment to Ukraine or to the peace formula of President (Volodimir) Zelensky, which has the strong support of Spain and the entire EU”, nor “should it relax our efforts in requesting that the crimes in Ukraine be investigated by the International Criminal Court as war crimes, including that of our compatriot Emma Igual”.
