EU must actively cooperate with US on Mideast: Portugal
(LISBON) - The European Union needs to step up its engagement in the Middle East and actively cooperate with the United States to resolve crises in the region, Portugal's foreign minister said Wednesday.
"More than ever, Europeans and Americans must work together ... on a global security agenda for the Middle East," Foreign Minister Luis Amado wrote in the daily Diario de Noticias, calling for "greater EU engagement."
The two Western powers must "actively cooperate for the stabilisation of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, prevent a military nuclear programme in Iran and resolve the long Israeli-Arab conflict," he wrote.
On the eve of Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's first meeting with US President Barack Obama at the White House, Amado said there can be no turning back on the goal of creating a Palestinian state.
The EU and US must "find a durable solution to the 'Palestinian question,' the cornerstone of peace and security in the Middle East and the stability of the international system in the next few years."
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