almotamar.net - BERLIN, March 31 (Xinhua) -- European Union foreign ministers said on Saturday that they saw new opportunities for ending conflict in the Middle East.
"We are beginning to have signs of hope," EU top diplomat Javier Solana said after a two-day informal meeting of foreign ministers from the 27 EU states in Bremen, Germany.
Though peace could not happen "tomorrow," there was a new dynamic in the region that could reactivate peace efforts, he said,pledging more EU effort to push forward the process.
"It is important that the EU contributes to move the peace process forward," Solana said.
He said he was especially encouraged by the "united" and constructive approach taken by the Arab League at a summit in Riyadh last week, describing the Saudi government as working in a "determined manner" to promote peace and the Arab decision to revive a 2002 land-for-peace offer to Israel as very "positive."
The EU would work with non-Hamas members of the Palestinian national unity government as part of the renewed peace mediation.
"Europe is no longer just a commentator on the sidelines," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who chaired the meeting.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who vowed to reactivate the peace process in the Middle East before her country's EU presidency expires in the end of June, is currently on a trip to countries in the region.
Steinmeier said the EU would focus to intensify work towards a two-state solution, as proposed by the international community.
He said that he was encouraged by the "first steps of rapprochement" made by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to agree to meet every two weeks.
"The international community must support this process ... We hope it leads to success," the German minister said.