BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – MAY 26 : High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell holds a press conference after attending a conference on the plight of Venezuelan refugees and immigrants on May 26, 2020 in Brussels, Belgium. Today, the European Union and the Spanish government convened the International Donors’ Conference with countries in the region, with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). (Photo by Pool/Getty Images) (JTA) — The European Union’s foreign policy chief effectively rejected President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan and asked the United States to join a new international effort to broker a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
Josep Borrell said Monday that the Trump plan has created a “certain momentum where there was nothing,”according to The Associated Press, and the momentum “can be used to start a joint international effort on the basis of existing internationally agreed parameters.” The Trump plan does not respect those parameters, Borrell implied.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas joined in, calling for a “multilateral format” that allows “both sides to speak and negotiate with each other.”
Before his comments, Borrell and other EU foreign ministers in a call with Mike Pompeo warned the U.S. secretary of state that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank would endanger the prospects of a two-state solution and stability in the Middle East.
Borrell and the foreign ministers did not offer details on what a new international peace effort would look like.
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