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President Abbas Receives EU's Solana, Otté RAMALLAH, February 16, 2006 (WAFA) - President Mahmoud Abbas received Thursday in Ramallah the EU High Representative for Security and Foreign Policies Javier Solana and the EU Peace Envoy in the Middle East Mark Otté. . President Abbas briefed his guests on the Palestinian preparations for the post-elections period, pointing out that there will be a meeting for the PLC next Saturday in preparation of forming the new government. . He also briefed them on the Israeli escalations against the Palestinian people, which aim at dividing the West Bank and judaizing Jerusalem. . "I...

Dutch Vexed with Solana. Europeans Quarrel over Cartoons From the desk of Paul Belien on Thu, 2006-02-16 00:07 Jozias van Aartsen, the leader of the Dutch Liberal Party (VVD) which is the coalition partner of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s Christian-Democrat Party (CDA) in the Dutch government, is angry with Javier Solana. Mr van Aartsen demands that the Dutch Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs both reprimand Mr Solana. The latter, a Spanish Socialist who is the EU Foreign Policy Coordinator, recently signed a common statement with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary-General of the Organisation...

EU, Egypt study means to protect religious beliefs February 14, 2006 CAIRO -- EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday discussed mechanisms to protect religious symbols and beliefs, as part of efforts to defuse a row over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. On the second leg of a tour of the Middle East, Solana voiced his "profound desire to recuperate relations between the EU and the Muslim world". Solana told reporters that he had discussed with Mubarak means of implementing the principles of a joint statement issued a week ago by the European Union,...

EU's Solana tries to calm cartoon row in Saudi Arabia Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:23 PM GMT By Souhail Karam JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - The European Union and a major grouping of Islamic countries would back United Nations action to stop "defamation of religion" after cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad provoked violent protests worldwide. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is lobbying for the United Nations to include language against blasphemy in the tenets of a new human rights body and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he supported the idea. "We agreed to take different measures...

Joint Press Availability With European Union High Representative Javier Solana and Quartet Special Envoy Jim Wolfensohn Secretary Condoleezza Rice David Citadel Hotel Jerusalem November 15, 2005 SECRETARY RICE: Good morning. Two months ago, Israel and the Palestinian Authority took an unprecedented step on the road to peace with the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, returning control of that territory to the Palestinian people. Israeli and Palestinian leaders have been hammering out practical arrangements to gain the benefits of that withdrawal and improve conditions in the rest of the Palestinian territories. I am pleased to be able to announce today...

Israel's inner cabinet voted on November 1st to request the European Union to monitor and secure the Egyptian-Gaza border. Sylvan Shalom, Israel's foreign minister, told Haaretz, "Our objective is for the Europeans to have enforcement capabilities in the field, and not just a symbolic presence". That Israel would rely on the Europeans to help guarantee any dimension of a developing Israeli-Palestinian peace is a significant shift. It certainly presents a major foreign policy challenge for the EU, which has offered itself in many roles but not as an enforcer. But it also shows Israel's underlying desire for a stronger relationship...

Orders from Brussels: Spell Christ with a lower-case "c" By Judi McLeod Monday, October 31, 2005 It must be getting a little too close for Christmas for the chi-chi crystal palace of the pretentious European Union. Pooh-bahs in Brussels have come up with a new grammar rule for themselves and the Netherlands--making it official that the name "Christ" will soon be written with a lower-case "c". That was the stipulation in an orthography reform published earlier this month in Brussels. According to the Kath.net agency, the new spelling legislation will also stipulate that the Dutch word for "jews" (joden) be...

Interview: Solana says stronger China "good for world" European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Wednesday rejected the "China threat" hypothesis, saying a stronger China is good for the world. "Throughout history, new arrivals or new competitors have often been regarded as threats, but the reality is that a stronger and more confident China is good for the world," Solana said during an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the eve of the eighth EU-China summit slated to begin Sept. 5 in Beijing. From the beginning of this year, some Western politicians, businessmen and media have issued a new...

Jan. 12, 2005 22:06 | Updated Jan. 12, 2005 22:37 Israel to tell EU's Solana: No instant peace negotiations By HERB KEINON Mahmoud Abbas meets with EU's Javier Solana in Ramallah Photo: AP Israel will not begin political negotiations with the Palestinian Authority simply because Mahmoud Abbas was elected chairman, Israeli officials are expected to tell visiting European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana on Thursday. "We don't want the Europeans to give off the impression that because there has been an election we can now start political negotiations. We are not there yet," one senior diplomatic official said. Prime...

I am sure that the reaction of most people if they were to come across an individual that had a doctorate in physics, was a Fulbright scholar at several American universities, a professor in solid-states physics and the author of over 30 publications, would be, quite simply, "Wow!" They would, of course, be equally impressed to find out that said person had joined the Spanish Socialist Party in 1964 and has been a member of the Spanish Parliament since 1977. In fact, this educated man now gives European Union diplomacy a face, as High Representative for common foreign and security...

The European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, has had a secret meeting with the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, the BBC has learned. Hamas is on the list of banned terror groups for both the EU and Washington. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Solana said that he had had the meeting some months ago, without saying with whom it was.

Eurabia By Jamie Glazov Frontpage Interview's guest today is Bat Ye'or Her latest study is Islam and Dhimmitude. Where Civilizations Collide. Her forthcoming book, Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis, will be published in January 2005. FP: Bat Ye'or, welcome to Frontpage Interview. Bat Ye'or: Thanks for inviting me to your prestigious magazine. FP: First things first, can you explain the term "Eurabia" to our readers? Bat Ye'or: Eurabia represents a geo-political reality envisaged in 1973 through a system of informal alliances between, on the one hand, the nine countries of the European Community (EC)which, enlarged, became the European Union (EU) in...

Egypt on Friday disputed Israeli allegations of Syrian complicity in the bus bombings in Be'er Sheva on Tuesday, in which 16 people were killed, and said it was illogical for Israel to threaten to retaliate against Syria. "There is no evidence of a link between the explosions which took place in Israel and Syria," Egyptian presidential spokesman Maged Abdel Fattah told reporters. "So we consider that these threats are beyond logic," he added, speaking after talks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. On Wednesday Israel threatened Syria...

EU says it would reconsider position on PA if Abu Ala resigns After meeting FM Shalom in Jerusalem, EU foreign affairs chief Solana says if Abu Ala ends up just as Abu Mazen, conclusions could be drawn. Gil Horev Solana (right) and Shalom today in Jerusalem (Foreign Ministry photo). If Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei (Abu Ala) resigns we would have to reconsider our position regarding the Palestinian Authority, European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana has stated. During a press conference he held with Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom after a joint meeting this (Thursday) afternoon in Jerusalem, Solana said,...

BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana hit back at criticism from Serbs after violent riots erupted in Kosovo, saying the international community was not to blame for the flare-up. Solana, speaking a day after he was jeered by displaced Serbs during a visit to the UN-run province, said: "I would not say that it is a failure of strategy of the European Union (news - web sites). "I think it is a failure of the behavior of the people of Kosovo. We are not responsible for the behavior of the people of Kosovo," he told reporters. "We...

They were on the wrong side of history, and today, and forever, their names live in infamy – Hitler, Goebbels, Mengele, Eichmann, and thousands, even millions more like them. You can run, but you can't hide, as per Joe Louis. Everything (to borrow a line from Pirke Avos) is recorded in a Book. Today, your words and deeds are also recorded by the memory of the Internet and television. If you are a believer, then say this: God is watching. If you are something otherwise, then say this: History is watching. Those who support and champion murderers are murderers themselves,...

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana condemned Thursday the deadly bomb blasts in Madrid as brutal "acts of terror" and called for those responsible to be brought to justice. "We must constantly condemn ... these acts of terror and help the security forces (so) that those responsible for this brutality are brought where they should be, before a court," the former Spanish foreign minister said. "Every European, every democratic person has to condemn these people who wanted to interfere in an electoral campaign, producing suffering for hundreds of people, leaving families broken," he told reporters. Solana said the aim of...

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana signalled Monday support for those seeking to lift a ban on arms sales to China imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. "If you take the list of countries with whom we have embargos of arms or weapons .. probably China is not in the company it should be," he said, after EU foreign ministers launched talks on a French-led initiative to end the ban. He noted that China's leadership has changed dramatically since the bloody events of 15 years ago. "It's a leadership that wants to look forward, (that) doesn't want to be...

EU Condemns Cabinet Security Fence Decision 20:56 Oct 02, '03 / 6 Tishrei 5764 (IsraelNN.com) European Union Foreign Minister Javier Solana today released a statement condemning yesterday’s cabinet decision to proceed with the security partition fence and include addition Yesha (Judea, Samaria & Gaza) communities.