(27 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brussels – 27 May 2024
1. Micheál Martin, Irish Foreign Minister, walking into a news conference with his Norwegian and Spanish counterparts, Espen Barth Eide and José Manuel Albares
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Micheál Martin, Irish Foreign Minister:
“We agreed on the need for an early end to the brutal war in Gaza, and clear steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian state. We are now going to the EU Foreign Affairs Council, where the contact group will present their thinking in more detail. And my view is that the European Union needs to get fully behind across regional plan. European Union needs urgently to support the Palestinian Authority’s own reform plan, which I discussed with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa last night. I believe this provides a pathway for effective governance of the Palestinian Authority throughout Palestinian territory. As responsible global players, Ireland, Norway and Spain will always seek to promote diplomacy over violence, hope over despair and cooperation over exclusion. And that is why all three of us have supported the Ukrainian peace plan. And that is also why we are supporting the Arab peace vision. We will continue our engagement with all parties to this end.”
3. Leaders at end of news conference taking pictures
STORYLINE:
Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin reiterated on Monday his country’s support for a cease-fire in Gaza and the formation of a Palestinian state
He spoke alongside his Norwegian and Spanish counterparts, Espen Barth Eide and José Manuel Albares.
"European Union needs urgently to support the Palestinian Authority’s own reform plan," said Martin.
He added that the reform plan will provide "a pathway for effective governance of the Palestinian Authority throughout Palestinian territory."
Martin’s comment came after the international community put increasing pressure on Israel to fundamentally change the course of the war it wages on Hamas in the Gaza Strip through international court action and diplomatic maneuvering last week.
The formal recognition of a Palestinian state by Ireland as well as Spain and Norway — which all have a record of friendly ties with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, while long advocating for a Palestinian state — is planned for Tuesday.
Eide was in Brussels Sunday to hand over diplomatic papers to Mustafa ahead of Norway’s formal recognition, a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel.
The diplomatic move by the three nations was a welcome boost of support for Palestinian officials who have sought for decades to establish a statehood in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — territories Israel seized in the 1967 MidEast war and still controls.
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