[06/March/2010]

BRUSSELS, March 6 (Saba) -- European Union Foreignn Ministers discussed the latest developments in the Middle East during their informal gathering in Cordoba , Spain, Saturday, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) .

Speaking at a press conference after the meeting this afternoon, Spanish foreign minister Miguel ??ngel Moratinos said "it is time to pass to action in order to make possible that the two- states solution become a result and not to wait eternally to this solution." "We also need to work with the US administration to start again the indirect negotiations through the efforts of Senator Mitchell, "he added. The ministers of the 27-member Euopa bloc discussed the situation in Gaza and also expressed concern at the events that took place Friday in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem where Israeli troops clashed with Palestinians protesting against a recntIsraeli decision to add two West Bank mosques to its list of national heritage sites.

Moratinos chaired the meeting as Spain holds the current EU Presidency. On her part, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told the joint press conference that she will embark on a visit to the region tomorrow to engage all the key countries. She will also look at "the contribution that the EU is making and should make in the future, and that is about supporting the Palestinian Authority, particularly in what I would describe as the state building." Ashton said at the end of the week she will alsotravel to Moscow for the meeting of the Middle East Quartet. During the 2-day meeting Friday and Saturday the ministers also discussed EU relations with the big emerging actors in the international arena, as well as the Western Balkans. They also spent part of the discussions on the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the new European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy instruments, in particular the European External Action Service.

EU foreign ministers hold two informal meetings called Gymnich every year. Gymnich takes its name from a German castle in which the first meeting of this kind was held in 1974, during the German EU Presidency.

Saba