High Commissioner for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana on Aug. 30 will visit the Middle East. The trip which will last four days includes Syria, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Egypt, the Italian news agency AKI reported.
Solana will meet with President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem in Syria where he will arrive on Aug. 30, Solana's press service reported.
Then, Solana will go to Israel where he will meet with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as opposition leader, Tzipi Livni.
Solana's visit to Israel followed after Netanyahu's meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor Angela Merkel in London. European leaders have demanded Israel to freeze the construction of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, hampering the peace process in the region. Netanyahu proposed a plan to stop building settlements within 9 months to unlock the negotiations with the Palestinians. In September, the U.S. special envoy on the Middle East, George Mitchell, who will report on the future plans of the President Barack Obama's administration on the peace process, will visit the region in September.
Solana, representing the EU in the Middle East Quartet, in the spring stated about the need for an independent Palestinian state within two years, if negotiations with Israel remain fruitless. Solana will discuss the peace process with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, as well as with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, recently visited Washington.
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