EU Urges 'Early' Quartet Meeting on Mideast Peace

The European Union, welcoming U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East policy shift, Monday called for an "early meeting" of the Quartet group of world powers seeking an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

It also welcomed the recent reconciliation between rival Palestinian leaders from Fatah and Hamas and reiterated readiness to recognize a Palestinian state "when appropriate".

A statement issued by the EU's 27 foreign ministers said Obama's speech "sets out important elements contributing to the resumption of negotiations".

"On this basis, it (the EU) looks forward to an early meeting of the Quartet Principals to take the process forward," at ministerial-level talks.

"The fundamental changes across the Arab world have made the need for progress on the Middle East peace process all the more urgent," the EU statement said.

"Recent events have indeed shown the necessity of heeding the legitimate aspirations of peoples in the region, including those of Palestinians for statehood, and of Israelis for security."

In a U.S. sea-change on the Middle East, Obama last week urged that borders that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war form the basis of a future Palestinian state -- a position long held by the EU, which has called for mutually agreed land swaps and secured borders on both sides.

Several EU nations said the time was ripe to kick-start the peace effort.

"We want negotiations to resume as soon as possible," said Italy's foreign minister Franco Frattini. "This is what we have to do now. But I have to admit a window of opportunity is narrowing day after day."

German counterpart Guido Westerwelle also appealed to take swift advantage of the opportunity opened by current development but "which can close quickly".

"The Arab Spring," he added, "has also opened a chance for the Middle East peace process. But inversely, the peace process must move forward to guarantee long-term success to the Arab Spring."

A meeting of the diplomatic quartet on the Middle East -- the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States -- had been scheduled for last April but was canceled on a U.S. request, which deemed it premature, diplomats said.

Obama relaunched direct talks between the two sides in September 2010, the first in nearly two years, but they ground to a halt over the issue of Israeli settlement construction.

A partial freeze on settlement building expired shortly after the talks started, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declining to renew the moratorium and the Palestinians refusing to negotiate while Israel builds on land they want for their promised state.

In their statement, the EU ministers urged a new Palestinian government to "uphold the principle of non-violence, and remain committed to achieving a two-state solution and to a negotiated peaceful settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict ... including Israel's right to exist."