European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini appeared to warn the US against putting forward its peace plan at this time, saying in Brussels on Monday that “given the region, any false step can be very dangerous.”
Speaking to reporters after a meeting in Brussels between the 28 EU foreign ministers and a delegation of Arab foreign ministers, Mogherini said both the EU and Arab League ministers “have dealt with the conflict long enough around our common table to know what can fly and what cannot fly, and we believe it is wise to consider what can fly and cannot fly in terms of peace plans before putting any plans on the table and avoiding any false steps.
The Arab delegation – called the Delegation of the League of Arab States on Jerusalem, which was set up after US President Donald Trump’s decision in December to recognize the holy city as Israel’s capital – included the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian Authority. The delegation also included Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Mogherini said the EU and the Arab countries “have a level of knowledge of the file, of the region” that “cannot be underestimated and has to be taken into consideration appropriately if we want to avoid false steps.”
The EU is adamantly opposed to Trump’s decision on Jerusalem, as is the Arab League.
“What brought us here, the ministers of the League of Arab states and the ministers of the European Union, is this concern we have about any false step on the Middle East peace process and on Jerusalem in particular,” Mogherini said.