Luis Ayllón Representatives of European and Arab countries will hold a meeting next Friday, the 13th, in Madrid to discuss possible solutions to end the war between Israel and Palestine, The Diplomat learned from reliable sources. The meeting will be at the level of foreign ministers and several of them, both European and Arab, have confirmed that they will be present. The meeting is a follow-up of the one held for the first time on April 29 in Riyadh, taking advantage of the celebration in the Saudi capital of the World Economic Forum, and which was attended by the ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, on the Arab side, and several European ministers, including those of Spain, the United Kingdom and Norway, in addition to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrell. Borrell wrote a few days ago on his social media account X that he had spoken with Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, about cooperation between the Arab world and the EU in various regional crises, including those in Gaza and the Red Sea.In that same message, Borrell indicated that the dialogue would continue in Madrid, on the occasion of the follow-up meeting of the Riyadh Conference on the Middle East and the peace process. At that conference, which will now continue in Madrid, Faisal bin Farhan pointed out that the objective of the meeting was to “consolidate efforts to reach the two-state solution with our European partners.” The agenda of the meeting included “consulting and exchanging views on practical steps to stop the war in the Gaza Strip and activate political avenues through the recognition of the Palestinian State.”Since then, several European countries, including Spain, have taken the step of recognizing the Palestinian state. The Government of Pedro Sánchez did so on May 28 and a day later received the Prime Ministers of the Palestinian Authority and Qatar, Mohamed Mustafa and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al-Thani, (both also Foreign Ministers), as well as the Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey and the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). According to Pedro Sánchez's recent announcement, his Executive is preparing to hold a bilateral summit with Palestine in Madrid before the end of the year.
