Outgoing EU High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell, is in Cyprus on Friday and Saturday to meet Israeli and Palestinian civil society organisations, according to a European Commission press release.
Borrell will be the keynote speaker on Saturday at an event in Nicosia of the two-state coalition for Israel and Palestine known as the Geneva Initiative, whose aim is to promote a solution in the Middle East through the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
The commission announced that Borrell is visiting the region, amid the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza and Israel’s military escalation in Lebanon, as an opportunity to discussion with partners in the region possible steps towards a sustainable ceasefire, and towards a longer-term process based on a two-state solution.
Borrell’s contacts in the Middle East began on Wednesday in Jordan, where he was received by King Abdullah II. On Thursday he met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan, Ayman Safadi.
On Sunday Borrell will travel to Lebanon for a series of bilateral talks, including with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Barri, Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, Joseph Aoun and United Nations representatives.
