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Barroso in first official visit to Israel this weekend

04 July 2012, 11:22 CET
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(BRUSSELS) - The head of the EU executive, Jose Manuel Barroso, will pay his first official visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories this weekend, his office said Wednesday.

Barroso, who is president of the European Commission, arrives from Cyprus on July 7, then spending Sunday in the Palestinian territories and meeting Israeli officials on Monday.

It will be his first visit since taking the helm of the EU executive in 2004, his office said.

In the territories, Barroso will open an EU-funded police training centre and meet Palestinian premier Salam Fayyad and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbason.

He will hold talks the following day with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.

The European Union is the largest donor to the Palestinian Authority but while it is a major actor in the Middle East, its aid is outweighed by US economic and military support for Israel.

The EU has sharply criticised Israeli settlement building and curbs on economic development in the occupied West Bank.

Last month, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged the Israeli government to demonstrate its commitment to peace by reversing plans to build thousands of new settlements inside the West Bank and close to East Jerusalem.


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