European ministers meet Palestinian PM, commit to support Palestinian elections

BRUSSELS — Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh met Tuesday in Brussels with Belgium Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Malki was also present at the meeting, which was kept surprisingly low-key, with no statements released afterward by the Belgium Foreign Ministry.

Shtayyeh arrived on Monday in Brussels at the invitation of the European Union Commissioner on Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, on the occasion of the monthly meeting of the European foreign ministers. The encounter between Shtayyeh and the European ministers took place over lunch and was qualified as informal. The reason for that was mainly because Shtayyeh was invited by Borrell and not by the Swedish presidency of the EU. Another reason was the goal of establishing a candid dialogue and not searching for an agreed-upon statement.

Still, talking with the press after the meeting, Borrell said that the Palestinian issue was the second-most-important topic the ministers discussed at their Monday meeting, after Ukraine. Borrell said that Shtayyeh “shared with us the dire picture of the situation on the ground, with record Palestinian casualties in the West Bank — I said record — and continuing high-level of tensions. We will continue our internal discussions after listening to how challenging the situation is on how to enhance our bilateral relations further, working at the ministerial level.”

The European senior official noted that all the European ministers reaffirmed their commitment to protecting the viability of the two-state solution, giving support on the ground and keeping a political horizon for an Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. “We discussed the importance of a clear timeline toward holding national Palestinian elections and progressing with the Palestinian reform plans. And we will continue providing our support for it,” added Borrell.